


Tied to Fate

by littlelouishiccups



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Angst, Light Dom/sub, M/M, Magic, Masturbation, Smut, but with a happy ending bc i'm not satan, ghost!louis, i've never rly done a fic like this before so here's to hoping it's not an epic fail?, loosely inspired by a het romance novel i read when i was like 17 lmfao, this is my attempt at
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-02
Updated: 2019-06-16
Packaged: 2019-09-05 08:56:21
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 52,313
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16807477
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/littlelouishiccups/pseuds/littlelouishiccups
Summary: After his estranged father’s death, Harry inherits a castle in England that has belonged to his family for generations and he knows nothing about. When he breaks up with his boyfriend, Harry decides England is the perfect place for a small vacation. He isn’t prepared to meet Louis Tomlinson, a ghost who once lived in the castle and has haunted it for over five hundred years. He’s even more unprepared to fall in love with him.





	1. Prologue

“You know, I think being cheated on is definitely a positive thing.”

“You're going to give me a headache if you keep saying stupid shit like that.”

Harry already had a headache. He'd had a headache for the past three days, ever since his phone died and he borrowed his boyfriend’s to double check something online. Instead of finding out how long it took to bake a sweet potato, he learned he was being cheated on. He’d never felt so many feelings all at once: shock, anger, embarrassment, heartbreak, regret.

At first he’d even considered acting like he never saw anything and carrying on like normal, but then Joel walked back into the room and Harry saw red. He’d shouted a lot of things he kind of regretted if he thought about them too much, and after forcing Joel to leave their place so Harry could pack an overnight bag in peace, he sat on the floor of their bathroom and cried until his brain felt like it was going to burst out of his skull.

Currently, Nick was definitely making his headache worse, which was kind of impressive. Harry honestly hadn’t realized that was a possibility at this point.

They were watching a rerun of _Rupaul’s Drag Race_ and devouring an entire large pepperoni pizza on a Saturday evening. Although Nick was making his head hurt, Harry still appreciated that he’d put his diet on hold and cancelled his weekend plans to stay in with Harry and mope instead.

Nick tilted his head and swallowed a bite of pizza. “Okay, that came out wrong. What I mean is, you were planning to propose to that asshole. It's a good thing you found out about his cheating ass now rather than later. I know you're hurting, but I think in the long run it’s better to know about this.”

Harry knew Nick was right, and he appreciated that Nick was trying to be rational, but he was still feeling too raw to look at things logically right now. He was devastated and really fucking pissed. He’d just learned that his boyfriend of three years, the man he was thinking about marrying, was exchanging dick pics and doing who knows what else with other guys on Grindr. He didn't think he needed to be rational right now and he told Nick as much.

“Got it,” Nick said with a nod. “I’ll shut up. Do you want to light a bunch of candles and dramatically burn pictures of him instead?”

Harry snorted but shook his head. “Nah.”

“Egg his house?” Nick suggested, nudging Harry’s knee with his own. “Key his car while we sing along to Carrie Underwood?”

Harry wished he had it in him to give Nick the laugh he wanted. “No,” He sighed, pulling his legs up to his chest and resting his chin on his knees. “I just want to eat this pizza, maybe get a bit drunk, then go to bed.”

Nick nodded in understanding and stood up. “Drunk I can do. And I’ll get some fresh blankets for the couch.”

Harry sighed. He didn’t even get to sleep in his own bed. In all fairness, Joel had offered to let Harry stay in the apartment until they sorted everything out--Harry just couldn’t stand to sleep in the bed they’d once shared together. He knew he’d just toss and turn all night anyway, thinking about all of the other men Joel might have slept with that Harry didn’t know about. So he let Joel keep the apartment and was crashing at Nick’s instead. He’d given himself a deadline of a week before he had to pull himself back together and start the search for a new apartment. Nick said he could stay as long as he wanted, but Harry didn’t want to overstay his welcome. As soon as he got into a routine at Nick’s, it would just be that much harder to get back on track later.

Harry picked the pepperoni off of his slice of pizza and ate them individually while Nick went to the kitchen to mix a drink together. He thought about how Joel would pick his pepperoni off of his own slices of pizza to give to Harry, and his eyes started burning. He took a deep, shaky breath. He didn’t want to cry again, not right now. He’d shed too many tears over the past couple of days. No matter how many times he told himself Joel cheating wasn’t a reflection on him, he still felt so stupid and embarrassed. Joel had made a fool out of him.

His phone started buzzing next to him on the couch cushion and he glanced down at it. He’d told Joel he needed space to think, but he still half expected his name to pop up on the screen, calling to try grovelling again. It wasn’t him though. It was a random number Harry didn’t know. Harry didn’t normally answer unknown numbers, but he was thankful for any kind of distraction at the moment.

“Hello?” he mumbled into the speaker, his voice thick and scratchy from all of the crying he’d been doing.

“May I speak with Harry Styles, please?” A posh English voice asked on the other end of the line.

Harry frowned slightly. He didn’t know anyone from England aside from his biological father, who’d passed away almost a year prior. He obviously wasn’t contacting Harry from the grave. At least Harry really hoped not.

“This is he,” Harry said apprehensively, dropping his half eaten slice of pizza back into the box and pausing the TV.

“Good evening, Mr. Styles,” said the voice. “My apologies for calling at dinnertime on the weekend. My name is Jeffrey Azoff. I’m a senior attorney at Azoff & Azoff Law firm, based in London. I have a legal matter to discuss with you and would love to meet with you when you’re available.”

 _A legal matter?_ Harry didn’t think he’d done anything illegal lately, aside from smoking the occasional joint in the privacy of his own home. He hardly thought that counted. Marijuana was mostly legal now anyway.

 _Wait. What if he was being sued?_ Harry tried to wrack his brain to think of anyone who would want to sue him, but he couldn’t remember pissing anyone off that much in a long time and he hadn’t been in a car accident in years.

“Am I being sued?” he asked anyway, just to make sure.

“Oh, no sir,” Jeffrey rushed to assure him, clearing his throat. Harry relaxed a bit. “I’m calling about an inheritance from your late father, Desmond Styles. My condolences, by the way.”

Now Harry was even more confused. He hadn’t been all that close with his biological father, what with the guy living an ocean away and everything. He really only talked to his dad a handful of times a year--on birthdays and various holidays--and he’d only met him in person six times. His sister, Gemma, was closer to him. She’d spent a semester abroad in London during college and was able to spend some actual time with their father. Maybe this inheritance was supposed to go to Gemma.

Nick walked back into the room with a drink in each hand and raised a questioning eyebrow at Harry, who put the call on speaker so he could listen in.

“Um, thanks.” Harry awkwardly acknowledged Azoff’s sympathy as Nick joined him back on the couch. “I’m sorry, but I’m a bit confused. Are you sure you have the right person?”

“Harry Edward Styles, only biological son of Desmond Styles, correct?” Azoff asked, somehow making it sound like he wasn’t really asking. “I’m quite sure.”

“Well... yeah,” Harry reluctantly admitted. “But I thought everything with his will was settled a few months ago. Shouldn’t you be contacting my step-mother? Or maybe my sister?”

“This inheritance is to go to a blood relative.” Azoff clarified. “A male blood relative. That would be you.”

A male blood relative. That sounded slightly archaic, but Azoff continued before Harry could object.

“I’d really like to discuss in person rather than over the phone. I’ll be in town on Monday. Are you free for lunch?”

Harry and Nick exchanged a look and Nick shrugged. Harry couldn’t help himself. He was intrigued. He knew Desmond was pretty wealthy; he’d paid Harry’s and Gemma’s entire college tuitions, despite not being a huge part of their lives growing up, and their mother had never wanted for child support. Whatever Harry was apparently inheriting could be worth a lot of money. There was no harm in checking out the situation. Plus, he’d feel bad if it turned out Azoff made the trip to Chicago all the way from England to meet Harry and he turned him down.

Harry ran a hand through his hair and took a deep breath. “Sure, why not?”

\---

“What do you mean he left me _a castle_?” Harry nearly shouted, giving Jeffrey -call me Jeff- an incredulous look over the table. Somehow, he didn’t think telling someone they’d inherited a castle was appropriate news to share in a diner over a plate of cheese fries. Harry probably should have picked some place more uptown to meet a lawyer. A castle lawyer at that, but he hadn’t expected news like this. Jeff had to be pulling his leg.

Jeff shifted in his seat. He clearly wasn’t expecting this reaction. Maybe most people jumped up and down in excitement when they inherited castles. Harry wouldn’t know.

“Well,” Jeff cleared his throat. “I mean, it’s a small castle.”

“Oh, well if it’s just a _small_ castle,” Harry rolled his eyes and sat back, crossing his arms over his chest. “C’mon, you’re joking, right? What did I really inherit?”

He was vaguely aware that he was being rude, but too many bombs had been dropped on him in the past week and he was having trouble reigning himself in.

“I know it’s a lot to take in,” Jeff said, picking at the bun of his chicken sandwich. “But I can assure you I’m quite serious. I’m probably making it sound more glamorous than it is. The keep remains to be in near perfect condition, but a large part of the property is in ruins.”

Harry blinked. He didn’t even know what a keep was or what that meant.

“So this whole time, my biological father lived in a castle and I never knew.” He shook his head and sat back. “And to think I almost felt guilty for letting him pay my college tuition.”

“As far as I know, he never actually lived in the castle.” Jeff said, starting to twist his hands like he was uncomfortable. “Aside from the staff, I haven’t heard of anyone actually choosing to live there in this century.”

Harry narrowed his eyes. “Why?”

Jeff shrugged and looked away from Harry’s gaze. “The locals say the castle is a bit… quirky.”

Harry snorted and shook his head in disbelief. “So, I’ve inherited a _haunted_ castle. Great.”

Jeff met Harry’s eyes again. “I’ve been to Stonecreek multiple times and I’m still here to tell the tale.”

Harry simply stared at Jeff for a moment. Somehow, that didn’t sound reassuring in the least. He could’ve just said the castle wasn’t haunted.

“I’m sorry,” Harry said after a moment. “Haunted or not, I’m going to have to decline. I wouldn’t know the first thing to do with a castle.”

“Perhaps you could refurbish it,” Jeff sat up a bit straighter. “I understand you’re an interior designer.”

“Yeah, but I don’t specialize in castles,” Harry pointed out. He knew he was being particularly difficult now, but he couldn’t help but feel he was being made fun of. He glanced around the diner, half expecting a camera crew to pop out at any moment and announce he was on a prank show.

“Mr. Styles, you should also know that the castle is not the only thing you’ve inherited.”

“What now?” Harry wasn’t even sure he wanted to know. “Did I also inherit my own knight in shining armor? Some dragons?”

Jeff ignored that. Harry didn’t blame him.

“There is also a sizable monetary inheritance to go to whomever claims the castle.”

Harry paused. “How sizable?”

Jeff wrote a figure down onto a napkin and slid it over to Harry’s side of the table. Harry’s eyes nearly fell out of his head. He looked up at Jeff incredulously, but Jeff simply nodded.

“No way. There’s a catch, right?”

“No. Not that I’m aware of, Mr. Styles.”

Again, Harry didn’t really believe him. There had to be a catch. However, for the first time since the castle was mentioned, he found himself seriously considering the offer.

“Can I think about it and get back to you?” He asked. He needed time to consult his friends and family and think. He was still half convinced this was all a very strange dream.

“Of course,” Jeff popped a fry into his mouth before reaching into his briefcase. “I’m flying back to London tomorrow, but here’s my card. If I haven’t heard from you by the end of next week I’ll give you a call to follow up, but I look forward to hearing from you sooner. I’m afraid I’ll need a definitive answer by the end of the month or else I’ll have to start looking at the possibility of an auction.”

Jeff told him a bit more about the castle and the village it resided in while they finished their lunch, Harry’s mind reeling the whole time. Stonecreek sounded very quaint. Maybe somewhere he’d consider going on vacation, but not somewhere he’d consider living.

Harry’s mind was still reeling when he relayed the whole thing to Nick an hour later, as they stood over a pile of paint swatches in Nick’s office.

“Harry, you have to do it,” Nick said as he pushed a few swatches to their ‘no’ pile on the side.

Harry looked up at him and raised an eyebrow. “You think I should?”

“Are you crazy? People don’t get offered a castle and millions of dollars every day.”

“It’s probably a haunted castle,” Harry reminded him. He didn’t even particularly believe in things being haunted, but he still thought it was a notable point.

“It’s England,” Nick waved his hand in dismissal. “Everything is haunted there.”

“What?” Harry snorted and put a hand to his hip. “Since when?”

“Hogwarts is in England, Harry. Keep up,” Nick said. “Plus England is like, so old. Obviously there would be ghosts everywhere.”

“Obviously,” Harry rolled his eyes. He wasn't about to argue with that kind of outstanding logic.

“That’s something else to consider though. It’s in England. I can’t just pack up and move to England. I have a life here. Plus, I don’t even know how to like get a visa or anything.”

Nick thought on that for a moment. “He didn’t say you have to live there though, right? You just have to claim the castle as your own, or whatever.”

That was true. Jeff said nobody had lived in the castle in over a hundred years, which sounded like a waste to Harry. He was sure the village and castle had a history. If nobody was going to live there, why hadn’t anyone refurbished the place and made it into a museum or something? What did claiming the castle really entail?

“I guess,” Harry allowed. “It just seems to be good to be true, you know?”

“But what do you have to lose?” Nick shrugged. “When will you ever get another opportunity like this? It doesn’t hurt to check out the place. You were saying this morning that you need to get a way for a little bit anyway. I can handle things here in the meantime.”

Being best friends with your business partner definitely had it’s perks. Nick had suggested Harry go away for an extended vacation just that morning. He definitely needed some time away from everything. Harry didn’t like the thought of leaving his business for extended periods of time, but he did trust Nick to hold down the fort. For a little while at least.

“Just think about it,” Nick said. “You don’t have to make a decision today. Maybe you can visit the place first.”

Harry nodded. That was a good idea. Jeff couldn’t blame him for wanting to visit Stonecreek before making any big decisions. “I’ll think about it.”

“Good,” Nick said, holding up two purple swatches. “Now what do you think for the daughter’s bedroom? Dusty plum or berry syrup?”

\---

The next morning found Harry sitting in the parking garage of his apartment complex for twenty minutes before he built up the courage to go inside and grab a few things. He knew Joel was usually at work by this time and his car wasn't in the garage, so there was practically no chance of running into him, but he worried anyway.

The steps from the garage to the apartment felt ominous, as if he was walking towards imminent doom. He turned his key in the lock and pushed the door open. Walking inside was extremely anticlimactic. He half expected Joel to have all of his belongings lined up in boxes by the front door, or to come face to face with a one night stand, but the apartment looked almost exactly the same as Harry had left it. He trudged through the apartment and to the bedroom, slightly relieved to see that it was obvious Joel had slept in their bed alone the night before, the sheets only pulled back on one side. Harry's favorite mug was still on his bedside table, where he'd left it the morning before everything turned to shit.

He took the mug to the kitchen to wash it so he could bring it back to Nick’s. When he was finished, he ended up cleaning the entire kitchen, and then the rest of the apartment, as if he could scrub and vacuum away the last three years of love and dedication he’d give to this apartment and the man he shared it with. Before Harry knew it, the sound of Joel turning his key in the lock revealed that it was lunchtime and any hope Harry had of not dealing with his ex-boyfriend today flew out the window. He held his breath and watched as Joel walked through the front door.

“Hey,” Joel said, not looking surprised to see him. Then again, he'd probably seen Harry’s car in the garage.

“Hey,” Harry said back dully, giving Joel a quick once over and running his eyes over Joel’s face. He looked tired, and Harry felt some satisfaction at the thought that Joel wasn’t sleeping any better than he was.

Joel did the same to Harry, running his eyes up and down the length of him before pausing on the Swiffer at Harry’s side. Then his eyes darted around the apartment.

“Are you…” He stared at the roll of paper towels in Harry’s hand. “Cleaning?”

Harry didn't respond. He thought the answer to that question was obvious.

“Harry,” Joel said impatiently when Harry remained silent.

“I'm just here to grab a few things,” he told him, trying and failing to cross his arms defensively over his chest while still holding the paper towels.

“And to clean, apparently.” Joel said, eying the vacuum cleaner still plugged in and standing in the corner.

Harry sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “I started and then it was hard to stop.”

“Well, I’m glad I caught you,” Joel said, walking over to stand in front of him. “I still want to talk to you.”

Harry looked down at his feet. Any thoughts he might have had about trying to work things out and forgiving Joel, seeing if they could be together again, vanished with the startling revelation that Harry couldn’t even stand to look at him.

“Talk to me about what?” He asked. He felt so tired.

“I don’t know,” Harry watched as Joel shifted his weight from foot to foot. “About everything. To apologize?”

“Apology not accepted.” Harry made to push past him, but Joel stopped him with a firm hand to his chest.

“Seriously, Harry? Can’t we be mature about this?”

Joel’s maturity had been one of the first things that attracted Harry to him. He’d seemed so put together and serious when they first started dating. Harry had been attracted to that kind of confidence. Now, Harry scoffed and knocked Joel’s hand away with the paper towels. “I don’t think I have to be mature in this situation, actually.”

“Will you just look at me?” Joel asked, reaching for Harry’s free hand instead and squeezing carefully.

Harry complied with a sigh and looked up, but pulled his hand away. “Fine, but don’t touch me.”

Joel brown eyes widened and he made a small, almost wounded noise at that, but he didn’t reach for Harry again. Harry felt bad for a fraction of a second, before he reminded himself that Joel didn’t have the right to touch him anymore. Not when he was touching other men.

Harry sat down on the couch, crossed one leg over the other, and gestured for Joel to say whatever it was he so badly needed to say. The longer he was in his presence, the more angry he became.

Joel mirrored his position in the adjacent arm chair and fixed Harry with a steady look. “First, I just want to say I really am so sorry.”

Harry hummed skeptically and tilted his head. “Why?”

“Why what?” Joel furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.

“Why are you sorry?”

“Well, I-” Joel looked taken aback by the question. “I know I hurt you. And I’m sorry for that.”

“Hmm,” Harry hummed again and this time, he could tell Joel was starting to become agitated. Good.

“It’s interesting to me that you care about my feelings now,” Harry examined his fingernails because he knew it would piss Joel off. “But you didn’t when you re-activated your Grindr account.”

“Can you blame me?” Joel asked and Harry’s head snapped up to look at him. “You’ve been so busy lately. Working long hours and coming home late.”

“You’re seriously going to make this my fault?” Harry bit back. “How fucking cliche of you.”

“I could just feel us becoming stagnant, Harry. C’mon, you have to admit we were getting boring.”

Harry didn’t know what to say. He’d kind of liked that they were becoming boring. He liked the sense of steady comfort and security he got with a long term partner. He liked having lazy nights at home more often than going out and partying every night. They were almost thirty. He’d thought this was the next phase in life and he couldn’t believe the man he thought he loved felt so differently.

“Then you should have talked to me and we could have tried to make things more interesting,” Harry countered.

“I don’t know,” Joel shrugged. “Maybe. The more I think about it, I just don’t think that I’m cut out for the level of commitment we were heading towards. Not yet anyway.”

Harry shook his head in disbelief. “Well, then you should have fucking broken up with me instead of stringing me along and acting like everything was fine.”

Joel sighed, but otherwise remained silent. Harry could feel tears welling up in his eyes, and he refused to cry in front of Joel again.

He stood up quickly. “I have to go.”

“Wait,” Joel reached a hand out again, before remembering Harry’s order not to touch him and curling his fingers into a first mid-air. “Where does this leave us?”

“There is no us anymore,” Harry told him. He looked around the apartment, at all of his stuff that still littered the place. “I’ll… text you this weekend when I’m ready to come box up some of my stuff. And I’ll set up a meeting with the apartment office to break my half of the lease.”

Thankfully, Joel seemed to recognize that this was a losing battle and simply nodded. “Yeah, okay.”

Harry grabbed his keys and the mug he’d washed earlier, and left the apartment, letting the door swing closed behind him. He paused in the hallway to gather his thoughts and take a few deep breaths, before he continued on to the elevator. He sent a text to Nick to let him know he was finally on his way to work and to apologize for being later than he’d initially intended after his cleaning spree and run in with Joel. Nick texted him back almost immediately.

_Everything alright? You sure you don’t want to take the day off?_

Harry seriously considered it, but he needed to keep himself busy. He stopped by the cafe down the street from their office and grabbed a cup of coffee and a bagel sandwich, pausing when he spotted Jeff Azoff’s business card in his wallet. After that discussion with Joel, he wanted to get as far away from him as possible. England didn’t even feel far enough, but it was a start.

“Don’t make hasty decisions just because you’re pissed off and heartbroken,” he muttered to himself as he left the cafe and made his way to the office.

Nick took one look at him and immediately bombarded him with questions, but Harry shook him off and locked himself in his office for the remainder of the afternoon.

A couple of hours later, while he was sipping on a new cup of coffee and looking over some sketches at his desk, Harry decided to google this castle and the neighboring village. Stonecreek looked charming and quaint. With a population of barely six thousand, Harry imagined that there were many stories about Castle Stonecreek and its various quirks, as Jeff liked to call them.

When he was a preteen, Harry had always dreamed of living in a castle with his own knight in shining armor. He’d watched _Sleeping Beauty_ at least two hundred times as a boy, always claiming he simply liked the fight scene at the end with the dragon and garden of thorns. In reality, he just thought fairytales were rather lovely. He’d been dreaming of his own happily ever after for as long as he could remember and for the past few years he naively thought he would have that with Joel. Now he was having to re-evaluate everything he thought he knew about love.

He’d called his mom and Gemma the night before to ask if they knew anything about the castle, and they’d been just as shocked to hear the news as he was. After Gemma finished her small rant about not inheriting a castle of her own, she agreed with Nick. She thought Harry needed to get away for a little while, that some change would be nice while he re-examined certain aspects of his life. Anne didn’t care what Harry did as long as he took care of himself and was happy. Maybe everyone was right. He had nothing to lose by at least visiting Stonecreek for a couple of weeks.

Harry pulled Jeff’s card out of his wallet and stared at it for a few minutes before taking a deep breath and dialing the number.

“Mr. Styles,” Jeff greeted warmly after the fourth ring.

“Please stop calling me that,” Harry said with a small chuckle. “You can call me Harry. Literally nobody has ever called me Mr. Styles.”

“Of course, Harry.” Jeff complied easily. “I was hoping I’d hear from you. Have you made a decision?”

“Maybe,” Harry said. “Can I visit the castle before I make a final decision?”

“Of course. The castle is technically yours already, bar the paperwork, so just let me know when you'd like to visit and I will gladly make arrangements.”

“Can I like, sleep there?” Harry asked. “Or do I need to book a hotel?”

Jess paused for a moment. “I’ll confer with the staff, but I don’t see why staying at Stonecreek would be a problem. Like I said, the castle is technically yours for the time being.”

“Awesome,” Harry said, wondering how many people made up the staff. “I just need to settle some things here first, but I think I can make the trip end of next week.”

“Great,” Jeff told him. “I’ll clear my schedule. Can I ask what changed your mind?”

Harry chuckled. “There’s really nothing I want more than to put an ocean between me and my ex-boyfriend right now. Maybe I can find myself a hot British guy to rebound with.”

Jeff didn’t say anything, and Harry’s stomach twisted. Great. Maybe his castle lawyer was a homophobe. He was trying to think of something to say to change the subject when Jeff finally spoke up again.

“I’m sorry to hear about that. I’m sure there are some men here who would love to spend some time with you.”

\---

Jeff hung up with Harry almost half an hour later, after discussing more details, and scanned his contact list for another number. He hesitated slightly before pressing the call button and bringing the phone back up to his ear. He got an answer after seven rings.

“Azoff,” he was greeted warmly by Stonecreek’s steward, Liam Payne. “Tell me you’ve got good news, mate.”

“I do,” Jeff swallowed. “Please tell his lordship that Mr. Styles will be arriving at the end of the month.”

“He’ll be happy to hear that. Thank you for your hard work.”

“Just for a visit,” Jeff clarified. He probably should have led with that. “He wants to check everything out before he makes any big decisions. And he intends to stay at Stonecreek.”

“Understandable,” Liam replied, sounding less warm, but still polite. “I’ll try my best to ensure we make a good impression.”

Jeff swallowed again and bit his lip. “I think I have some additional information that might help you with that.”

Liam hummed skeptically. “What's that, mate?”

Jeff took a deep breath. “Harry Styles is gay.”


	2. Spring

Stonecreek stole Harry’s breath away. He was still half convinced that he was dreaming as he stepped out of the car. The sky was beautifully overcast with thick gray clouds threatening to start pouring rain at any moment and the air was cool and damp. Harry felt like he was walking onto the set of a King Arthur movie as he followed Jeff from the circle driveway down a winding cobble path. While much of the castle was in ruins, as Jeff had warned Harry, part of the castle remained perfectly intact and was clearly well kept. The building was tall, with large round pillars topped with stone battlements and covered in ivy. The grass that lined the walkway was greener than Harry had ever seen and he looked around himself in an almost trance. He couldn’t believe all of this would be his if he simply signed some paperwork. 

Jeff led Harry to the side of the building and to a door that was painted a dark red. The door opened just as Jeff lifted his fist to knock, and a man who looked to be in his late twenties, with a kind smile and warm brown eyes, greeted them with a wave.

“Hey Jeff,” he said, nodding to Jeff before turning to Harry and thrusting out a hand. “You must be Harry. I’m Liam Payne, Stonecreek’s steward.”

Harry smiled and shook his hand, noting and admiring his armful of tattoos. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“Likewise,” Liam said, releasing his hand after giving it a warm squeeze. “We’re so excited to have you. Please, come on in.”

Harry followed Jeff inside and into the toasty kitchen. He was somehow both pleased and slightly disappointed to see that the castle’s interior was pretty modern. A large marble island stood in the middle of the room, pots and pans hanging from a rack overhead. The walls were bare, but painted a warm cream and the floor was made of stone. A four person wooden table and chairs were pushed up against one wall and set with two table placements. It wouldn’t take much for Harry to spruce the place up into something a little nicer. He could smell something cooking, and noticed a crock pot running on the counter in the corner.

“Let me give you the tour,” Liam said, interrupting Harry’s contemplation of backsplash above the countertops. “This is obviously the kitchen. We’ve got the basics, but let me know what you’d like me to stock the fridge and cupboards with during your stay.”

“You mean you’ll go grocery shopping for me?” Harry asked. He loved cooking and baking, but he hated grocery shopping. 

Liam nodded and smiled. “Yes, just make me a list.”

They made small talk as Liam showed him around, Liam asking about his flight and Harry commenting on the weather. After leaving the kitchen, they walked down a short hallway and into what Harry assumed was the great hall. The ceilings were tall and arched, as were the windows that lined the walls. The largest fireplace Harry had ever seen sat in the middle of one wall. He could easily stand in the middle of it and his head wouldn’t even be close to brushing the top. He tried to imagine who would have inhabited the castle in the Middle Ages, and could picture armor lining the walls and ladies in dresses sitting by the fire.

Liam was talking as he gestured around the room, but Harry didn’t process a single thing he said. He tried to tune back into the conversation as Liam pointed to a winding staircase in the corner of the room.

“I’ll take you up there and let you choose after we visit the library,” He was saying. Harry nodded and pretended to know what Liam was talking about.  _ Let him choose what? _

They walked down another short hallway, this one lined with medieval tapestries that Harry decided to choose to believe were authentic, and into the library. Harry looked around the room in awe. If someone told him they’d used this room for the set of a live action remake of  _ Beauty and the Beas _ t, he’d believe them. Aside from the large plasma screen TV that was mounted on one wall, the room looked just how he pictured a castle’s library would, with warm wooden panels and shelves lined with books. A chandelier hung from the ceiling and a large printed rug lay on the wooden floor. There was even a ladder that could be slid around the room to retrieve books on higher shelves.

“The library can get pretty drafty,” Liam said offhandedly as Harry looked around the room. “You probably won’t want to spend a lot of time in here.”

“Are you kidding?” Harry asked, eying the comfy looking couch facing the TV. He’d just been thinking that he didn’t want to go anywhere else. “This place is great.”

“You say that now,” Liam said evasively. “But trust me. If you ever want to read any of the books in here, just let me know and I can grab them for you.”

Harry raised an eyebrow at that. He almost felt like Liam was trying to tell him he wasn’t allowed in the library. He glanced at Jeff who was standing in the corner, but he was typing away on his phone, completely unaware. Liam let Harry look around the room a bit more before he clasped his hands together.

“Shall we move on?” He asked and Harry nodded. Jeff excused himself back to the kitchen to make a phone call while Liam and Harry continued their tour, walking back through the great hall, up the staircase, and down a long hallway. Liam pointed out various bedrooms, each decorated with a large four poster bed and more tapestries, and told Harry he could stay in whichever room he liked.

“Where do you sleep?” Harry asked as they walked back down the stairs. “You live here, right?”

“About half the time, yeah,” Liam told him. “There’s a room off the kitchen that I stay in when I’m here. I have most weekends and every other Monday off. Of course, if you decide to accept your inheritance we can talk about different hours if you’d prefer.”

Harry hadn’t even thought about Liam technically being his employee if he decided to claim the castle. He wondered how all of that worked. He didn’t even know what a steward did.

“Where do you stay when you don’t stay here?” he asked, wondering if Liam had a place in town or if he considered Stonecreek home.

“Um,” Liam hesitated. “With my boyfriend, usually.”

“Oh!” Harry said, the warm surge he usually felt when meeting fellow members of the LGBT community rushing through him. Maybe he actually could make friends and find himself at home here. He smiled brightly. “Does he ever stop by? I’d love to meet him.”

Liam smiled back. “Occasionally, yeah. I’ll let him know.”

“Sorry to interrupt,” Jeff said as they entered the kitchen again. “But I need to head back to London soon before it gets too late.”

“Of course,” Harry said. He’d almost forgotten Jeff wasn’t staying here with him. “I’ll grab my things from your car and let you go.”

Liam walked out with them, insisting that he help Harry with his luggage.

They said their goodbyes to Jeff, who informed Harry he’d follow up with him in a few days to see how things were going, and then returned to the castle, where they stood together awkwardly in the kitchen.

“Would you like anything to eat or drink?” Liam asked. “I’ve got stew in the crock pot. I’m sure you’re hungry.”

“You don’t have to wait on me while I’m here, Liam,” Harry assured him. “I love to cook and I can fend for myself. I will take you up on a glass of water and some food right now though.” 

“Of course,” Liam said, jumping into action. “You can obviously use the kitchen whenever and however you’d like.”

Harry was already planning to cook for Liam while he was here, as a thank you for his hospitality. It had to be odd to have a stranger coming to stay where you work. Liam served Harry a steaming bowl of beef and vegetable stew and sat down at the table with him. 

“Tell me about yourself,” Harry said as he blew gently onto his first spoonful. “I promise I’ll return the favor after I’ve had some sleep.”

Liam laughed. “No problem, mate.”

Harry learned that Liam’s boyfriend was named Zayn and he taught English and History at the school in town. They’d been together romantically for about two years, but were friends since they were kids. Liam also told Harry about his two older sisters, Ruth and Nicola and Harry shared a bit about Gemma in return. Liam worked as an EMT and volunteer firefighter for a few years before he became Stonecreek’s steward, and he liked to sing karaoke in his free time. As Harry finished his second bowl of stew, he decided he liked Liam. He was kind and funny without trying to be, and he wasn’t hard to look at. 

“You look like you’re about to pass out,” Liam told him after a while. “Please don’t think you need to stay up on my account.”

Harry promptly yawned as he glanced at his watch. It was only 7:30 p.m. local time, which meant it was still early afternoon in Chicago, but Harry was exhausted after his long day of travelling. 

“I was really hoping I’d make it at least another two hours,” Harry admitted. “But I don’t think I will.”

“Let me take your stuff upstairs,” Liam said. “Did you decide which room you’d like to stay in?”

All of the rooms had looked more or less the same to Harry. If he decided to take over the place, his first project would be to give each bedroom its own personality. 

“To be honest, I don’t care as long as there’s one with an ensuite bathroom.”

Liam nodded and reached for both of Harry’s suitcases. “There’s two of those. Let’s put you in the master for now”

“Sounds good,” Harry placed his bowl in the sink and followed him back up the stairs. He was so dead on his feet that he nearly walked into Liam’s back when he stopped suddenly in the middle of the hallway and glanced to his right. Harry followed his gaze but saw nothing, just one of the bedrooms with the door ajar. Before he could ask what was wrong, Liam was moving again. 

Harry was only able to contemplate that weirdness for about two seconds before Liam was speaking again.

“The towels in the bathroom are clean and the shower should be stocked with whatever you need,” he said as he placed Harry’s suitcase on the floor at the end of the bed. “And don’t hesitate to come grab me if you need anything. I’ll be awake for a few more hours.”

“Sounds great,” Harry said as he yawned again. “Thank you so much.”

Liam left him to his own devices and Harry immediately headed for the bathroom to shower. He fumbled with the knobs slightly before figuring everything out, and then had to wait for a few minutes for the water to heat up. He wondered how old the plumbing was in this place as he held his hand under the water. The pressure wasn’t the best either, but he was too tired to care.

He washed off quickly and changed into a pair of sweats and collapsed into the soft bed. He answered a few texts from his mother, assuring her that he had made it safe and sound, before closing his eyes and easily falling asleep.

He woke up two and a half hours later. Harry checked his phone and groaned when he saw that it wasn’t even eleven yet. He punched his pillow and rolled over, trying and failing to go back to sleep. He should’ve known he wouldn’t be able to sleep through the night. His body thought he’d just had a nice afternoon nap and was ready for the rest of the day. 

The castle was almost eerily quiet and dark, and for the first time since he landed, Harry found himself wondering if the place actually could be haunted. He rolled his eyes at himself and tried to go back to sleep for about ten more minutes before he allowed jet lag to get the best of him. He gave up on trying to sleep and decided he’d explore, pulling on a t-shirt after a quick trip to the bathroom. He grabbed his phone and opened the bedroom door and looked out into the hallway. 

A small night light was plugged into the socket at the end of the hall, but other than that the entire upper floor was dark. The door Liam had paused to look at earlier was now closed, and for whatever reason, Harry decided that was spooky. Heart rate picking up just a bit, he rushed passed the room before heading down the stairs and to the library. 

He let the light of his phone lead him to the first lamp in the room and flicked it on before he wandered along the edge of the room, fingertips tracing the bindings of the books on the shelves. He wasn’t in the mood to start reading anything tonight. He had a habit of getting really into a book and then staying awake until he finished, and he didn’t want to mess up his sleep schedule even more, so he made himself comfortable with the throw blanket on the couch and turned the TV on instead. He flipped through the channels and settled on a late night British talk show he’d never heard of before and grabbed the blanket that was draped along the back of the couch.

The room was slightly chillier than the rest of the house. Harry crossed his arms and shivered, looking around to see if a window had been left open or something. Maybe Liam was right, and the room was just really drafty. Harry shrugged and snuggled deeper into the blanket, too comfortable and lazy to get up and search for the thermostat. The show changed to a commercial and the lights flickered.

Harry glanced around the room, feeling nervous despite himself. Jeff’s words about Stonecreek’s quirks echoed in the back of his mind.

“Don’t be stupid,” Harry whispered to himself. “It’s not actually haunted. There’s no such thing.” 

Someone laughed. Harry’s eyes flicked back to the TV, certain that’s where the source of the laughter came from, but the commercial was a serious one about starving children in the Philippines. He also couldn’t shake the feeling that someone was in the room with him. The hair on the back of his neck stood on end and he turned his head slowly to the right and screamed.

A man was standing--no,  _ floating- _ -near the window, covered in blood with a sword sticking out of his chest. He started floating slowly towards Harry and Harry screamed again, jumping up and searching the room for his phone, his initial thought being to call 911. Or 999. Whatever the hell it was in England.

He heard footsteps down the hall, and suddenly Liam was rushing inside the room. “Is everything alri-”

He cut himself off when he saw the ghost floating in the middle of the room. 

“Oh, Jesus Christ,” Liam ran a hand over his face. 

_ Quite the opposite _ , Harry thought, heart still racing with fear. This…  _ thing _ wasn’t Jesus Christ. This was a demon. He wasn’t sure how Liam managed to look annoyed in the presence of a ghost. Harry’s heart was racing so fast he half expected himself to go into cardiac arrest.

“Really?” Liam whined, gesturing up and down the ghost’s body.  _ Would it even be considered a body? _ “Do you always have to be so bloody dramatic?”

The ghost snorted, looking down at the sword coming out of his blood stained chest. “ _ Bloody _ dramatic. Good one, Liam.”

Liam rolled his eyes and chuckled and the next thing Harry knew, the ghost vanished and he and Liam were alone in the room. Harry squeaked, eyes darting around the room, expecting the ghost to appear somewhere else.

“Um,” he sputtered, putting a hand to his heart and looking desperately to Liam for some kind of explanation. “What the fuck?”

“Sorry about that,” Liam said, still chuckling. “He thinks it’s funny to scare the new residents,” he raised his voice and tilted his head up. “But then he complains that he’s lonely when nobody stays!”

Harry stared at him for a moment, trying to figure out if Liam looked like a crazy person or not, before repeating his question. 

“What. The. Fuck?” 

“Right,” Liam nodded in understanding and put his hand on Harry’s shoulder. “How about a cup of tea?”

Not wanting to be left alone in case the demon came back, Harry hurriedly followed him down the hall and into the kitchen, where a brunette guy around their age was sitting at the table, hunched over a bowl of the stew Liam served for dinner. 

“Harry, this is Niall Horan,” Liam introduced them as he walked past. “He’s the groundskeeper. Niall, this is Harry Styles.”

Niall swallowed his food and stuck his hand out for Harry to shake. “Nice to finally meet you, mate. Desmond’s son, right? We were sorry to hear the news.”

Harry tried his best to nod, still slightly out of breath from his scare. “Uh, thank you.”

“How’s Stonecreek treating you so far?” Niall asked, ignoring Harry’s awkwardness. Harry noted that his accent was different from Liam’s. He guessed he was probably Irish, but he didn’t know the first thing about accents. “Bit of a trip for you, innit?”

“It’s… been interesting,” Harry said. If he’d been asked half an hour ago he would have said Stonecreek was treating him amazingly. But that was before he’d almost had the shit scared out of him. He’d just seen an actual real life ghost. His heartbeat still hadn’t settled. He didn’t know if it would ever settle.

“Well,” Liam said, gesturing for Harry to take a seat at the table as he put a kettle on the stove. “As we suspected, he just met Louis.”

“Its name is Louis?” Harry asked, sitting down across from Niall.

“ _ His _ ,” Niall corrected after swallowing another bite. “Please don’t let him hear you calling him an ‘it’, mate. For all of our sakes.” 

“Louis Tomlinson of Stonecreek,” Liam cut in, joining them at the table while they waited for the water to boil. “He was the lord here in the fifteenth century.”

“ _ The fifteenth century? _ ” Harry choked.

“Yep,” Niall nodded and Liam gave Harry a sympathetic pat on the back. 

“I know,” he said kindly. “It can be a lot to take in.”

“Holy shit,” Harry shook his head in disbelief. “And you both still choose to live and work here with it--sorry,  _ him _ \--around?”

“Oh, Louis is harmless,” Niall said, pushing his now empty bowl away from him. 

“I wouldn't say that,” Liam interjected, then turned to Harry. “He uh, tried to kill your dad once? And your grandfather three times, according to my dad anyway.”

“Yeah, well,” Niall shrugged far too nonchalantly in Harry’s opinion. “We all make mistakes. Anyway, what happened? Did he startle you by walking through the walls or something? I hate it when he does that.”

“No,” Liam spoke for Harry. “He did the sword thing.”

Niall groaned. “The sword thing! Seriously? I thought he was going to play nice.”

Liam raked a hand through his hair and sighed. “Yeah, so did I.” 

Harry looked back and forth between them, at a loss for words. He couldn’t believe how calmly they were discussing a  _ ghost _ . Although they were clearly exasperated with said ghost’s behavior, they also seemed almost fond of him and they were clearly used to his company.

“What did you mean when you said he tried to kill my dad and grandfather... according to your dad?” Harry asked Liam, wondering if he should be worried about his own life, but also how Liam’s father played into all of this.

“Right,” Liam said, scratching the back of his head. “I took over about two years ago after my dad retired, but he was the steward before me and his dad before that, and so on. My family have worked for Stonecreek and the Tomlinson family for almost six hundred years, ever since Louis was alive. ”

The kettle started to whistle and Liam stood up to make their tea while Harry processed that information.

“And has the ghost-” He paused to correct himself. “Louis, you said? He’s been here that long?”

Liam nodded as he poured hot water into a teacup. “I’ve known Louis for as long as I can remember.”

“Damn,” Harry’s body sagged in his seat. Six hundred years was such a long time. He wondered what happened to the ghost, how he became a ghost and why he was still here.

“I’ve only known him about a year and a half if that makes you feel better,” Niall interjected helpfully. “He’s actually really nice when he wants to be. Proper funny and charming.”

Harry furrowed his eyebrows, skeptical, but Liam was nodding in agreement with Niall’s statement as he placed the cup of tea on the table in front of Harry. Harry supposed he’d just have to take their word for it. He couldn’t imagine himself being brave enough to interact with the ghost in any way that would allow him to be funny and charming, but to each their own.

“Jeff mentioned the castle had its quirks,” he admitted. “But I never actually thought-”

“I know, right?” Niall said. “My family moved to town when I was a teenager and everyone’s always said the place is haunted, but I thought it was just a small town being a small town. ‘Til I met Louis, anyway.”

“How did this happen to him?” Harry took a sip of his tea, wincing slightly when it burned his lips. “I mean, why hasn’t he… passed on?”

Liam’s face turned sad, a crease forming between his eyebrows. “That’s not our story to tell.”

Neither he or Niall said anything else on the subject, and he had a feeling that was all he was going to learn about Louis the ghost tonight. Harry continued to sip at his tea and Liam and Niall continued to ask him if he was okay.

“Really sorry he scared you like that,” Liam said. “I probably should’ve warned you, but I don’t know how to warn someone about something like that.”

“It’s okay,” Harry lied. He really would have liked a heads up, although he supposed Liam was right and nothing could prepare a person for meeting their first ghost. “I probably wouldn’t have believed you anyway.”

“You didn’t sleep long,” Liam noted when Niall walked to the sink to wash his bowl. “Jetlag?”

“Yeah,” Harry slurped the last bit of his tea. “And now I doubt I’ll ever be able to sleep again.”

“To be fair,” Liam said as Niall laughed. “He probably wouldn’t have done anything if you’d stayed out of the library like I told you. He spends most of his time in there. If you return to your room he won’t bug you again tonight. Promise.”

“How do you know?” 

Liam shrugged evasively, but for whatever reason, Harry believed him. He seemed like a good guy, and if his family had worked for a ghost for centuries and lived to tell the tale, Louis obviously couldn’t be  _ that _ bad. Even if he did seem to have it out for Harry’s family. He’d have to ask about that later.

Harry returned to his room after another cup of tea, Niall offering to stay the night and sleep in the room next to his if it would make him feel better. Harry appreciated the offer, but turned him down. He was a grown man. He wouldn’t let a ghost that two other men his age thought harmless scare him into acting like a five year old. It only took him a few hours to stop picturing the blood covered ghost every time he closed his eyes, and if anyone asked, he’d deny sleeping with the lights on.

\---

He woke up the next morning feeling determined. After a late breakfast, he decided he was going to face his fears and seek Louis out. If Niall and Liam liked him, Harry could like him too. The two of them would need to get along if Harry decided to keep the castle, since the ghost clearly came with it. Plus, he’d feel much more comfortable staying in the castle once he knew once and for all that Louis’ presence was nothing to worry about.

He waited until Liam left for the grocery store to go searching. He didn’t know how ghost hunting worked, if Louis could make himself invisible until he wanted to be seen, or if there were places to find him. Liam had said Louis spent most of his time in the library, so Harry went there first and jumped when he opened the door and found himself immediately successful. A figure was standing near the window, gazing outside. He turned around when Harry entered the room and Harry blinked. 

This ghost looked nothing like the one he’d seen the night prior. When he wasn’t covered in blood with a sword sticking out of his chest, Harry almost wanted to say that he was attractive. His feathery brown hair fell over his face and into his eyes, and his body was slim and slight. He was wearing blue jeans that hugged a beautiful round ass and a white t-shirt that clung nicely to his torso. Harry hadn’t realized ghosts could change clothes. Or be attractive. He almost turned around and walked right back out of the room. This was not at all how he expected this encounter to go.

Instead, Harry took a deep breath, half terrified and half intrigued, and walked further into the room. Louis glanced up as Harry got closer, and Harry’s breath caught in his throat. His eyes were the most lovely shade of blue, framed in the prettiest eyelashes Harry had ever seen.

“Thank you,” Louis said, lips turning up in a smirk. 

Harry gasped.  _ Had he said all of that out loud? _

“No,” Louis said. His voice was softer than Harry had imagined, not that he’d really imagined Louis saying anything aside from maybe  _ boo _ . “You didn’t speak out loud.”

Jesus Christ.  _ He could read minds? _

_Yes_ , Louis’ voice echoed in Harry’s head. _And_ _I can get into yours too._

Harry jumped. Holy shit. He didn’t know how to respond to that, so he stood there gaping at him for way longer than he’d like to admit while Louis just stared back at him in amusement.

“Wh- what’s your name?” Harry asked after a moment. Like an idiot. But he didn’t know what else to say or do. He couldn’t believe he was standing here talking to an actual ghost.

“You already know my name,” Louis said, raising an eyebrow and placing his hands on his hips.

“Well,” Harry shrugged, swallowing as he regained his composure. He sat down on the couch he’d been sitting on last night when he first saw Louis. “Maybe I’d like to hear about you from yourself. I’ve never met a ghost before.”

That made Louis smile. “Alright. I’m Lord Louis Tomlinson of Stonecreek. But Liam and Niall just call me Louis. I suppose you can too.”

“Nice to meet you, Louis,” Harry said, resisting the urge to hold his hand out for Louis to shake. He was pretty sure Louis couldn’t touch him and didn’t want to be like, offensive or anything. “My name is Harry.”

Louis smirked again and sat down on the arm of the chair facing Harry. “I know who you are.”

“Right,” Harry clasped his hands together and stared down at them. He fiddled with the ring on his thumb to buy himself some time. He didn’t know where to go from here.

“I’d like to apologize for scaring you last night,” Louis said after a moment when Harry didn’t say anything. “Liam has informed me that it isn’t as funny as I think it is. But I don’t think he realizes how boring being a ghost for over half a millennium can be.”

So it was a joke. Maybe Louis hadn’t intended to scare him half to death the night before after all.

“Now, I didn’t say that,” Louis interrupted his thoughts.

Harry looked back up at him with a huff. That was going to get old really fast. “Sorry, if this is rude, but is the mind reading thing something you can turn off?”

“With practice,” Louis admitted, smiling at Harry like he was the most fascinating thing he’d ever seen. Harry wondered if his own expression was similar. “Once I get to know you better. In the meantime, I apologize. I know it can be... invasive.”

He ran a hand through his hair and winked, and Harry couldn’t help thinking that if Louis was alive, Harry wouldn’t mind if he invaded another part of him. 

Louis laughed. “Although it might be difficult for me to stop reading your mind in particular. I think I like listening to you. Quite the ego boost.”

“Oh, my God,” Harry groaned and felt a blush heat his cheeks. Louis just laughed some more.

If Louis was going to say anything else, he was interrupted by Niall shouting in the great hall. 

“Harry?!” he bellowed. “Liam told me to come check on you when I got here! Where you at?”

“Are you implying that Liam doesn’t trust him with me?” Louis shouted back, somehow making his voice echo throughout the entire castle. Harry jumped in spite of himself and a moment later Niall entered the library.

“Fuckin’ hate it when you do that,” he said with a full body shudder. “Anyway, Liam just wanted to make sure you’re playing nice,” 

He grinned from ear to ear at the sight of Harry and Louis sitting together.

“Oh, Harry’s going to be fun,” Louis said. “I’m being extra nice.”

Niall hummed in disbelief. “You also said that realtor a few months ago was going to be fun and then you made him piss himself.”

“That was a different kind of fun,” Louis said, winking at Harry again. Harry blushed again.

Niall looked back and forth between them. “Right. Well, I’m going to get to work, but Harry if you need anything, just holler.”

He waved and left the room, leaving Harry and Louis alone together again. Harry didn’t know what to do now that he’d found Louis. He hadn’t thought this far. He had a million and one questions, but he didn’t know if they were appropriate to ask.

“You were easy to find,” he told Louis.

“I know,” Louis said. “I could hear that you were trying to find me so I let myself be.”

“Oh,” Harry swallowed. That answered his invisibility question. “Are you going to try to kill me like you’ve tried to kill the rest of my family?”

Louis stared at him for a moment and Harry struggled not to look back down at his feet. He didn’t know if it was a ghost thing or a Louis thing, but being the subject of his intense gaze was a little overwhelming. Harry’s heart rate started to speed up, but in a different way than it had the night prior.

“I don’t think so, no,” Louis murmured. “Not unless you do something to make me change my mind.”   


That… wasn’t reassuring at all.

“Sorry,” Louis said in response to Harry’s unspoken thought.

“Have-” Harry cleared his throat. “Have you ever  _ actually _ killed anyone?”

The corners of Louis’ mouth turned down. “Not in a long time.”

Harry waited for him to explain himself, but Louis’ eyes had glazed over and he appeared to be lost in thought. Harry wanted to kick himself. If Louis wasn’t actually evil and he had killed people, Harry probably just brought up bad memories. The tortured look in Louis’ eye pretty much confirmed that. Harry should probably change the subject.

He took a deep breath to ask a different, less loaded question, but Louis made brief eye contact with him again and then vanished. Harry stared at the part of the room he’d just disappeared from for a few moments. It was the second time he’d seen Louis disappear into thin air and he really didn’t like it. _Where did he go?_ _What if he was still in the room? What if he was around Harry all the time and Harry just didn’t know it?_

He needed to talk to somebody about this. Someone who wasn’t Liam or Niall and could properly freak out with him, so he texted Nick, asking that he call him as soon as he woke up. It was still early morning in Chicago and he didn’t expect Nick to be fully awake just yet. 

While he waited for his call, Harry decided he needed some fresh air. He’d just stepped out into the back garden when the phone lit up with a facetime call. Harry sighed in relief and tapped his screen to answer.

“Hey, gorgeous!” Nick greeted him with a smile. “How the hell is England? I’ve decided I want you to hate it because I miss you terribly and need you to return home to me.”

“There’s a ghost,” Harry said instead of acknowledging any of what Nick had just said.

He sat down on the bench in the garden and crossed his legs. He could spot Niall several yards down, messing with one of the flower beds.

“What?” Nick’s voice sounded amused.

“The castle is haunted,” Harry said, looking back to the screen, where he could see that Nick was still in bed. His hair was sticking up in every direction and his chest was bare.

“No shit,” Nick’s eyes grew wide. “Are you serious?”

“Yes,” Harry nodded emphatically. “There’s an actual fucking ghost in this fucking castle.”

“What the fuck?” Nick shouted and Harry quickly turned the volume down on his phone. He didn’t want to catch Niall’s attention, and he didn’t know if Louis’ hearing extended to outside of the castle. Although if it did then he was fucked either way since he could  _ read fucking minds _ . “Are you kidding me? I thought the haunted thing was a joke.”

“Nope,” Harry said simply. “It’s real. There’s a ghost. And he’s hot.”

“Who is?” Nick cocked his head to the side.

Harry really needed Nick to get with the program. “The ghost.”

Nick just stared at him and Harry nodded seriously. “Like quite possibly one of the most beautiful men I’ve ever seen.”

Nick pinched the bridge of his nose. “Harry, are you drunk? What are you even saying to me right now?”

“I’m not drunk,” Harry protested with a frown. “His name is Louis and he’s gorgeous, Nick.”

“The… ghost... is named Louis.”

“Yes, and he’s hot.”

“So you’ve said,” Nick said flatly. “You do know that when I said you should find a hot British guy to fuck while you’re there, I meant like... an alive one.”

“I hate you,” Harry said. “Obviously I can’t fuck a ghost.” At least, he didn’t think so. “I just wanted you to know that there is one, because I’m kind of freaking out about it.”

“Okay, fine,” Nick sighed and Harry could see him sitting up straighter in bed, his interest officially piqued. “Tell me about the hot ghost. Is he also scary? Figures you’d be into that.”

Harry gave him an unimpressed look and Nick cackled. He didn’t know where to start. He didn’t know that much about Louis, just that he was both hot and a little scary and almost six hundred years old. And that despite himself, Harry was excited and more interested in learning everything about him than he’d been interested in anything in a very long time. 

*****

Harry didn’t see Louis again for almost a week, but he spent that time trying to learn everything about him. He tried going through Liam and Niall first, but they were still tight lipped about Louis’ story.

“It’s wild how the internet is a great research tool people use nowadays, though,” Niall said sarcastically after Harry tried to pump him for information for the fifth time in three days, which made Harry feel pretty stupid. He didn’t know why he never considered using Google like a normal person. Louis had existed as a real person at some point, and was important enough to own a castle, so there was probably something about him out there on the internet.

Harry sat at the kitchen table on Wednesday evening, as Liam prepared dinner while Niall bothered him by making him look at memes on his phone every two minutes, and began his research. He knew Stonecreek Castle had a Wikipedia page from his brief previous search of the place while he was back in Chicago, so Harry went there first, scanning the page until he came across the small section dedicated to the Tomlinson family.

_ Between 1438 and 1474, Stonecreek Castle was controlled by the Tomlinson family, powerful and respected regional landowners. The Tomlinson family was loyal to Edward IV and the House of York during the War of Roses. Lord Mark Tomlinson was killed at the Battle of Wakefield in December 1460. After Mark’s death, his only son, Louis William, became Lord of Stonecreek at the age of seventeen. Louis Tomlinson was married to Isabel Highcliff in 1473. He was killed in 1474 when Stonecreek Castle was overtaken by the Styles family. Following her husband’s death, Lady Isabel married Lord John Styles and remained at Stonecreek. _

_ Stonecreek Castle remains under the ownership of the Styles family, although the property has been inhabited only by a line of stewards since 1903. _

Harry read the section four times before looking back up at Liam and Niall. Liam was dicing an onion and trying and failing to hide the fact that it was making him cry, while Niall leaned against the counter and played around on his phone.

“Wait,” Harry said. “So am I reading this right? His wife married the dude who murdered him? That is shady as fuck.” 

Niall looked up at his phone and simply said. “You catch on fast.”

Liam just hummed and continued chopping.

Harry looked back at his laptop screen and scrolled back up the page and then down again, hoping that Wikipedia would suddenly have more answers for him. All reading the page had accomplished was giving him more questions. 

He went back to the search bar and typed,  _ Louis Tomlinson Stonecreek Castle _ .

It took a few tries to find a website with what looked like decent and credible information on the Tomlinson family, but Harry still didn’t learn much more, just that Louis was the son of Mark and Johanna Tomlinson and he had four younger sisters. After Mark’s death, Johanna remarried and had two more children. Harry whistled under his breath. Seven kids seemed like a lot, but he also figured it was common for the time period.

He changed his search to  _ Stonecreek Castle Haunted _ and found himself in the depths of a Reddit thread. He read for a good ten or so minutes, sifting through the ridiculous posts about what could be haunting the castle, before he got to a theory that was even somewhat close to the truth. 

_ i say the castle is most likely haunted by louis tomlinson who was murdered there in the 1400s. bet you anything his wife was fucking the dude who murdered him. his soul stayed behind for some sweet revenge. _

They’d gotten the identity of the ghost right, but Harry wasn’t so sure he believed revenge was Louis’ motive for staying behind. Obviously he knew next to nothing about him, but he didn’t get the feeling that Louis was staying behind by choice, which begged the question,  _ Why? Why hadn’t he passed on? How did this happen to him? _

His thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of Liam’s boyfriend, Zayn, who was joining them for dinner in order to meet Harry. He knocked on the back door and Harry watched as Liam let him in, giving him a quick peck on the lips in greeting. Harry smiled at the sight. He loved seeing other people in love. His stomach twisted as he tried not to think about Joel. 

“Zayn, this is Harry,” Liam walked him over to Harry with a hand on the small of his back and Harry stood up to shake Zayn’s hand. He was a bit stunned. When Liam said his boyfriend was an English teacher, Harry had not pictured someone this cool and attractive. He’d pictured glasses, tweed, and a slick comb over. Zayn was all jet black hair and scruff and tattoos.

“Nice to meet you, mate,” Zayn said before taking a seat across from Harry at the table.

“Likewise,” Harry told him. “Glad you could make it.”

He forced himself to put his research to rest for the night and closed his laptop so he could be social. Zayn’s eyes followed Harry’s hands as he moved the laptop to the side. 

“Harry’s been researching Louis,” Niall told Zayn, taking a seat at the table as well.

“Ah,” Zayn said with an understanding nod. “Have you met him yet?”

Harry winced, thinking about the version of Louis he’d met the first night. “Yeah, you could say that.”

“He did the sword thing,” Liam supplied, tossing the chopped onion and a spoonful of garlic into a pan. 

Zayn turned around to look at him. “I thought you said he was going to play it cool?”

“Why does everyone keep saying that?” Harry asked. Niall had said almost the exact same thing. They all seemed to be under the impression that Louis wasn’t supposed to scare Harry.

Everyone paused, a deer in the headlights look crossed Niall’s face and Zayn scratched at his nose. Liam stirred the onions slowly. Harry cleared his throat impatiently.

“He’s just trying to turn over a new leaf,” Liam said after a moment. 

Harry didn’t believe him, but he’d learned over the past couple of days that prying didn’t get him anywhere. He did however, have another question that he thought Liam might answer instead.

“Liam, you said your family have been the Tomlinson family’s stewards forever, right?” Liam nodded and Harry continued. “That didn’t change when the ownership did?”

“Good question,” Niall said, looking to Liam as well. “I hadn’t even thought of that one myself.”

“My great-great-great-great grandpa--” Liam cut himself off. “Okay, I don’t know exactly how many greats, but you get the picture. Anyway, he was extremely loyal to Louis when he was alive. The way my family tells it, Louis’ soul was still here, so my grandpa was determined to stay here too. He played it off like he wanted to look after Lady Isabel because it’s what he thought Louis would have wanted. He pledged loyalty to your family in order to stay here with Louis and try to find a way for him to pass on.” 

Harry considered that for a moment. “So there is a way for Louis to pass on, then?”

Liam swallowed audibly and looked back down at the stove. “Again, that’s not my story to tell.”

Harry huffed in frustration. If there was a way for Louis to move on, Harry didn’t understand why someone hadn’t succeeded in helping him do so before. Probably because nobody could do anything with the Payne family being so god damn cryptic all the time. Harry wanted Louis free for Louis just as much as for himself. He wasn’t sure he was comfortable living with a ghost, and if Louis didn’t want to be here, Harry figured he could try to help them both. 

He decided he’d ponder more on that later. It was time to change the subject before he got even more annoyed by his steward’s lack of cooperation. 

“Are you sure you don’t need any help with the cooking?”

“Nope,” Liam replied cheerfully. “I’ve got it.”

Zayn rolled his eyes and leaned toward Harry. “He’s a control freak,” he whispered. 

“I heard that!” Liam accused and Zayn sat back again and winked at Harry. 

“So, tell me about yourself, Zayn,” Harry said. “Liam tells me you’re a teacher?”

Conversation flowed easily throughout dinner and afterwards they moved to the library to watch some game show Harry had never heard of, Harry and Niall in the armchairs and Liam and Zayn together on the couch. He wondered if Louis would appear again soon, since they were apparently in his territory. When he didn’t appear, Harry also wondered what Louis thought of his steward being in a relationship with another man and decided that was important information to know. If he was going to live in a castle with a Medieval ghost, there were a few things he needed to clear up. 

“What does Louis think of the two of you?” Harry asked Liam and Zayn during a commercial break, gesturing between their bodies. “I just--I know he’s from a different time. Is your relationship something he has an issue with?”

“Not at all,” Liam said warmly. “He’s from a different time but he’s been around to see the progression of things. I think he just appreciates love, to be honest. He… he’s told me before that he thinks it’s lovely.”

That warmed Harry’s heart and gave him a bit of hope. If a Medieval ghost could come around, then so could the rest of the world.

“Louis is the first person Liam came out to when he was fourteen,” Zayn added, and Harry raised his eyebrows in surprise. 

“Not on purpose,” Liam clarified, rolling his his eyes at Zayn. “He does the mind reading thing, you know. But yeah. He was the first to know.”

Harry tried to picture how that conversation went, adolescent Liam confiding in a ghost. A ghost who supported him, and at some point, told him his sexuality was lovely. For the first time, Harry thought he might understand why Liam seemed so affectionate of Louis. He’d initially chalked it up to family loyalty, but there was something deeper there.

“Niall, what about you?” Harry asked. “Are you seeing anyone that Louis approves of?” 

“Nah,” Niall said easily. “Nobody for me right now, I’m afraid.”

Liam snorted. “Yeah, right.”

“Nobody  _ serious _ for me right now,” Niall said firmly. “Shut up, Payno.”

Harry waggled his eyebrows. “Oh, no fun! C’mon. Spill.”

“It’s nothing,” Niall insisted. “I’m just dating around a bit, seeing where things go.”

“Mhmm,” Zayn hummed and Niall threw a pillow at him.

“You guys suck,” Harry crossed his arms over his chest and pouted. “I know that I‘m basically a stranger, but you don’t tell me anything.”

“You haven’t told us anything about yourself, either,” Niall pointed out, which was fair. 

Harry hadn’t divulged much about himself because his mind had been focused on Louis instead. It was a nice coping mechanism. Every time he found himself reaching for his phone to read through his old texts with Joel, or see what he was up to on social media, he’d distract himself by trying to learn something new about Stonecreek or Louis instead.

“Well,” Harry swallowed. “To be honest, the main reason I’m here is because I needed some distance from my ex-boyfriend. My life isn’t much fun to talk about right now.”

Niall reached over and clapped him on the shoulder in what Harry was sure was probably supposed to be a comforting gesture, but actually kind of hurt. 

“Go on then,” Zayn said quietly. “Tell us why we hate him.”

Liam smiled in encouragement and Harry huffed out a laugh, both amused and grateful for the instant and unquestioning support from people he’d just met. 

“He was sexting other guys on Grindr,” He told them, aware of the anger creeping into his tone. “And probably more than that, but I decided I didn’t want to know.”

“What a fucking prick,” Niall muttered while Zayn and Liam frowned. “When did you find out?”

“Only about three weeks ago,” Harry ran a hand through his hair and sighed. “I found out about Stonecreek just a few days after we broke up.”

He was starting to think the timing of that was a pleasant twist of fate. He probably wouldn’t have even considered coming to Stonecreek if everything with Joel hadn’t just happened.

“Wow,” Liam said. “If it’s any consolation, you seem to be handling it well.”

“Yeah,” Niall agreed. “I get proper emo after a break up. I’d be piss drunk and crying on the floor of my bathroom right now.”

“There was some of that the first week,” Harry admitted. “But I decided he wasn’t worth the energy.”

Liam smiled. “Good for you.”

\---

Liam left on Friday afternoon to spend the weekend with his family and Zayn, and wouldn’t be returning to Stonecreek until Tuesday morning, meaning Harry would be left alone in the castle for the entire weekend. He hadn’t seen Louis in days, but he was still nervous that he could pop up at any moment. He’d been nice the last time Harry saw him, and nobody else seemed to be worried for Harry’s life, but he was still slightly on edge now that he was alone.

It was a rainy day, so he built a fire and busied himself with work for most of the afternoon. He Skyped with Nick and they worked on a few designs together before Nick left for a lunch meeting with a new client, which meant it was Harry’s dinner time. He wasn’t all that hungry and settled on a peanut butter and jelly sandwich that he ate quickly, and a cup of tea. 

The rain stopped while he was eating and it looked gorgeous outside, so Harry pulled on some rainboots and a hoodie, made another cup of tea, and ventured out. He walked the grounds for a bit, letting the tea warm his hands and taking the occasional sip. He came across a stone bench at the end of the garden, wiped as much water off of the surface as he could, and then sat down. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, listening to the light wind blowing through the trees and the occasional bird chirping in the distance. He never got to experience this in the city and made a mental note to come out here on a clear night to look at the stars. He couldn’t help thinking that if it wasn’t haunted, Stonecreek would be a great place for a secluded romantic getaway. 

When he opened his eyes again, he was no longer alone. Louis was standing a few feet away from him, looking out at the landscape along with Harry. Harry jumped slightly at his sudden appearance and stared, wondering how long he’d been there while Harry daydreamed.

“I miss it,” Louis murmured after a moment.

“What?” Harry squeaked, Louis’ voice startling him just as his appearance had.

“Sitting outside and enjoying the weather,” Louis clarified. “I always loved being outside after a good rain. I can hardly remember the feeling now.” 

He turned to face Harry and once again, Harry was struck by how attractive he was. Louis was wearing a tunic and tights today, probably similar to something he would have worn while he was alive. 

“This was my favorite spot,” Louis told him. “I used to sit where you are now and watch my father train for battle as a boy. When I got older I trained here too, while my younger sisters played around and tried to distract me.”

Harry smiled at the thought. The distant look on Louis’ face made it clear that he’d loved his family very much. The thought tugged painfully at Harry’s heart. He couldn’t imagine a life without Gemma or his mom.

“You’ve been busy this week,” Louis said, changing the subject and joining Harry on the bench. “Been trying to learn everything about me.”

“Sorry,” Harry said. Maybe Louis thought his research was an invasion of privacy or something. That didn’t mean Harry wouldn’t keep doing it, but maybe he’d feel a bit more guilty about it.

Louis shrugged. “It’d be odd if you weren’t curious. I know you still have questions.”

There was only one way he would know that. 

“Have you been listening in on my conversations with Niall and Liam this whole time?”

Louis chuckled. “And your mind a bit too. Sorry again. I promise I am working on tuning you out.”

“Thank you,” Harry said. “Do you mind if I ask you a few of those questions?

Louis nodded. “Alright.”

Harry took a deep breath. “I’ve read about how you died, but I still don’t know how this happened to you.”

“It is a long story,” Louis said. “And one I don’t really enjoy telling.”

“Oh,” Harry said, a bit disappointed, but he didn’t try to press. If he was a ghost, he probably wouldn’t want to talk about how he was murdered either. 

They sat in silence for a moment more, Harry sipping at his tea, which had now gone cold. The sun started to set, the air getting colder, and Harry was about to excuse himself to go back inside when Louis started talking.

“I was newly married,” he began softly, and hearing the pain in his voice nearly broke Harry’s heart. How unfair for one to lose their life so shortly after finding happiness.

Having heard Harry’s thought process, Louis shook his head slightly. “Wasn’t like that. It wasn’t common to marry for love when I was alive. It was a political marriage. I-” 

Louis paused for a moment and Harry smiled at him encouragingly. “I wanted to love my wife, but I never cared much for women. In a romantic sense, I mean.”

_ Oh _ . Louis didn’t say anything else for a while, apparently letting that simmer, and Harry shifted on the bench, crossing one of his legs over the other.

“Me either,” He admitted with a shrug to break the silence, slurping the last bit of his tea. “But since you can read my mind, I’m guessing you already knew that.” Louis smiled, but neither confirmed or denied Harry’s suspicion, and continued his story.

“I was almost thirty and people were starting to question my lack of a wife. I agreed to marry Lady Isabel when her father propositioned, because it was past time and I didn’t think I’d ever find love for myself. I’d really hoped one day that I could find it in myself to love her.” Louis glanced down at the ground. “I tell you this so you won’t think badly of me when I tell you what happened shortly after we were married. I did try very hard to love her and in some ways, I cared for her.”

Harry wanted to assure Louis that he wouldn’t judge him, to let him know that he knew love didn’t work like that, and he would never judge someone for trying and failing to be what society wanted of them. He just didn’t know where to begin. Maybe Louis knew anyway.

“Another man was passing through a few months after our wedding and stayed with us,” Louis swallowed. Harry put his mug to the side and wrapped his arms around himself. “We drank together one night and got to talking. Turns out he… he and I had a lot in common. We spent that night together, intimately. I’d feel worse about it if Isabel had been faithful, but she wasn’t. I knew she wasn’t, and I thought she knew the same about me. I thought we had an unspoken arrangement, but I was wrong. She found out about me and Thomas, and she was very angry.”

Harry held his breath. He didn’t know what kind of story he had been expecting, but it wasn’t this. He could see where this was going, and he wished he could reach out, put a comforting hand to Louis’ shoulder and give him a reassuring squeeze.

“I was terrified,” Louis continued. “Homosexuality was seen as sodomy back then, and sodomites were castrated and burned at the stake. I begged Isabel not to reveal my secret and to my knowledge, she never did. Instead she visited a witch and put a curse on me. And then she got her lover to kill me.”

Harry swallowed, unsure of what exactly to say. How did you comfort someone who had been murdered by their wife’s lover? How did you comfort someone who had been murdered at all? He felt conflicted, both happy that he’d correctly guessed part of what happened to Louis, and upset that this kind of thing could happen to anyone.

“What kind of curse?” Harry wondered aloud, interrupting Louis’ story before he could help himself. “Is that why you’re stuck like this?”

Louis nodded. “I don’t think it worked out quite like she planned. I was able to hear her thoughts after I died, just as I’m able to hear yours. She’d hated me since before she even met me, hated that her father chose me for her husband. She intended to have me killed long before finding out about my… inclinations, and decided on the curse afterwards.”

He paused to let Harry digest that, but Harry honestly wasn’t sure what to think. He couldn’t fathom how anyone could be that cruel, and having never believed in things like curses and ghosts before, his mind had a lot to process.

“I still find the curse difficult to explain,” Louis continued after a moment. “Even after all this time. From what I’ve gathered, Isabel wished that my soul would never know peace, to make up for the torment I supposedly caused her in my life. But the witch told her that all magic must have balance. If I truly wished to cause Isabel torment during life, which she wanted to cause me during death, then the curse would work as Isabel intended. However, if torment was never my intention, the sacrifice of my life would come at a price and neither of our souls would rest until the balance was restored.”

Harry wasn’t sure he understood any of that. It sounded beyond complicated and conveniently tricky. 

“I don’t fully understand it myself,” Louis said in response to Harry’s unspoken thought. “You’re right. Dark magic is very cunning and complex.”

“So I’m guessing you never intended to torment her.”

“Not at all. Maybe I could have been warmer to her during our brief marriage, but I never had ill intentions towards her. At least, not while I was alive anyway. I definitely tormented her after I died.”

_ Good _ , Harry couldn’t help thinking. Any person who cursed someone with an afterlife full of agony deserved a bit of torment themselves.

Harry gestured to Louis’ form. “And I’m also guessing she never restored the... balance, or whatever.”

Louis shook his head. “No. She didn’t.”

“But you said Isabel’s soul wouldn’t rest until yours does, right?” Harry glanced around the garden and back to the castle. “Is she stuck here too?”

“No,” Louis shook his head. “I believe where she is, is much worse. Even though I don’t think I deserved this, I consider myself lucky to be stuck here instead of somewhere else. Stonecreek has always been home to me.”

Harry hummed. “So, are you stuck like this forever?”

“Not exactly. Liam’s family has done extensive research on the curse and there are two theories. The first one is that balance can be restored if someone in Isabel’s lineage returns the sacrifice. A life for a life.”

Harry’s stomach clenched uncomfortably. “Like, kill themselves? Or someone else?”

“That’s the idea, yes,” Louis frowned. “But it has to be with the right intent.” 

Harry paled at the idea. He wanted to help Louis pass on, but that wasn’t a price he was willing to pay to do so.

“The second theory,” Louis continued, “The one Liam likes, is that since extreme hatred brought anguish upon my soul, an act of extreme love could be the balance that finally brings my soul peace.”

“I like that one better too,” Harry said. That sounded so much better. Louis should have led with that one.

“Really?” Louis asked with a frown. “Sometimes I think it’s even crueler than the first option.”

Harry tilted his head in confusion “How so?”

“Imagine, Harry. I’m able to finally find love with someone, but I’d never get to be with them and they’d never get to be with me. I’d pass on before we had the chance. I don’t think love is possible for me. I’d never want to put someone I loved through that kind of loss.”

Harry shivered, both from the cold and from the weight of Louis’ words. He hadn’t considered that. He didn’t know Louis well, but his heart broke for him. The only thing that made him feel a bit better, was knowing that the person who did this to Louis was now in the same situation as him.

“You’re cold,” Louis said, noting the way Harry was rubbing at his arms to get warm. “I apologize. I tend to forget about things like that. Let’s go back inside.”

He stood up and Harry did the same, allowing Louis to lead the way back to the castle. 

“I’m going to be honest with you,” Louis said when they reached the door and walked inside. “I heard the other night, when you asked the boys why they thought I was going to be nice to you. It’s because Azoff told us you also like men. We-- _ Liam _ got excited, got it in his head that you could finally be what breaks the curse. I just told him I’d be nice to get him to shut up. ”

“Were you planning to seduce me?” Harry asked, following Louis as he headed towards the library.

Louis turned his head to look at Harry briefly. “Maybe a little bit. Only to stop Liam’s nagging.”

Harry sighed in relief. He wasn’t keen on the idea of being used like that. He wanted to help Louis, but he refused to be manipulated into doing so. 

He settled on the couch and wrapped a blanket around his shoulders. “Can I ask another question?”

Louis tilted his head and Harry took that as a yes.

“I’ve gotta know how you change your clothes. Do you have like a ghost closet?”

Louis laughed, a light musical sound. “I’m able to conjure up images of myself. That’s how I was able to pull off the trick with the sword that first night. I can make myself appear to you in thousands of different ways.”

Harry was fascinated, and also slightly anxious. He could only imagine how terrifying Louis could make himself if he was in the mood to really scare someone.

“So are you really this pretty, then? Or do you just make yourself look this way because you know it gets to me?”

“You’re quite the flirt, aren’t you?” Louis smirked. “And you’re in luck. Maybe. This actually is what I looked like before I died. You’ll see me in this form the most. I covered myself in blood to scare you, and wore modern clothing to make you feel more comfortable when I wanted to apologize, but this is what feels the most natural to me. It’s what I was wearing when I was killed.”

Harry frowned, feeling even worse that such terrible things had happened to Louis now that he was getting to know him better. “I can’t believe all of this happened to you. Thank you for sharing your story with me.”

Louis gave Harry a small, closed-lipped smile. “Don’t worry about me. I made peace with my fate years ago. Feeling sorry for me isn’t productive.”

Harry was tempted to argue, but he had a feeling Louis wouldn’t allow it, so he changed the subject to something less depressing and asked for Louis’ version of Liam’s coming out story. They stayed up well into the night talking, Harry taking in everything Louis was willing to give him, and only retiring for the night when Louis simply vanished after trying and failing to get Harry to shut up and go to bed. 

He checked his phone for the first time in hours as he slid into bed, seeing he had a text from his mother asking how England was treating him. He bit his lip as he typed out his response. 

_ Doing great. I think I might stay a bit longer than originally planned. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for reading! 
> 
> tumblr: @littlelouishiccups :)


	3. Summer

Harry Styles was trouble. Louis had known this from the very first day, when he walked into Louis’ space with a look of pure wonderment on his extremely pretty face and nothing but curiosity and kind thoughts floating around in his head. 

He’d definitely been a surprise. Liam and Niall tried to find out as much about Harry as possible before he came to England, but to their disappointment, he was almost silent on social media. His Facebook and Twitter were mostly inactive, and his Instagram was filled with abstract artistic pictures of scenery and the occasional candid of people who were not him. They hadn’t quite known what to expect when Harry arrived, and Louis knew he wasn’t the only one who ended up being pleasantly surprised.

Liam and Niall really liked him. Liam liked that Harry cared about Louis just as much as he cared about Stonecreek, and that Harry seemed to respect him. Niall liked that Harry was a little weird, but nice, and that he made him laugh. Louis liked all of the above. He also liked the way Harry hummed to himself in the shower or when he was cooking dinner, and how focused he got when he spread his work out on the kitchen table and didn’t surface for hours. He liked his lovely green eyes and his pretty lips and his curls. 

They’d been unsure if Harry would end up accepting ownership of Stonecreek. When he left after his brief three week stay, he still hadn’t made up his mind. Louis knew Liam was worried about what would happen to his job and to Louis if Harry didn’t accept, but they received a call from Jeff Azoff four days later, letting them know he’d just received Harry’s signatures on everything. He was officially the owner of Stonecreek castle.

That had been five weeks ago, and in Harry’s absence, Louis was startled to realize that he kind of missed him. Harry was interesting and entertaining and his thoughts were fun to listen to. As promised, Louis really did do his best to tune him out, but Harry’s thoughts were louder than anyone else’s he’d ever heard before. Listening to his thoughts was the most fun Louis could remember having in years. Harry got delightfully flustered and occasionally embarrassed when Louis was around because he knew that Louis knew he was seriously attracted to him. 

When Liam informed him one morning in mid June that Harry was on his way back, Louis shouldn’t have felt excitement course through him. There wasn’t anything he could  _ do _ about that excitement, but he felt it all the same. It was definitely a problem.

“How long is he staying?” Louis asked, watching on as Liam answered emails on his laptop.

Liam shrugged. “Dunno. Sounded like another long stay. He’s bringing his sister and a friend with him. He said they’re only staying a few days but he’s staying behind after they leave.”

“Did he say which friend is coming with him?” Louis wondered.

“Um...” Liam picked up his phone and went through his text messages from Harry. “Said his name’s Nick.”

Louis smiled. He knew Nick was Harry’s best friend and business partner and that Harry loved him like family. He also knew that Harry considered his sister to be one of his best friends. The prospect of getting to meet the close people in Harry’s life was exciting. He hoped they’d be just as lovely as Harry was. He couldn’t imagine that they wouldn’t be.

“Their flight gets in this afternoon so they probably won’t get here until later this evening. I already had dinner plans with Zayn and Harry made me promise not to cancel, so try to be a good host while I’m gone, yeah?”

Louis scoffed. “I can play nice.”

“You said that last time,” Liam said, unimpressed. 

“I like to keep you on your toes,” Louis said and Liam simply rolled his eyes in response and went back to ignoring Louis.

Louis left Liam to his work and noted when he left the property a couple of hours later, buzzing with excitement for his plans with Zayn. The pair of them simultaneously made Louis feel proud, envious, and disgusted. He wondered when they’d be getting married. He knew Liam was starting to think about popping the question more and more lately. And Zayn thought about it occasionally as well.

His mind was drifting a few hours later when he heard Harry enter the property, his thoughts both anxious and happy. Louis could hear that Harry was excited to see Liam, Niall, and Louis again, but he was also slightly anxious to introduce Louis to his friends. Any intentions Louis might have had to give Gemma and Nick a really good scare flew out the window. Harry tried his best not to offend Louis and Louis felt it only fair that he return the favor.

Louis kept himself invisible as he floated outside and down to the garden, where Harry was talking about how pretty everything looked at dusk after a rain. He thought about Louis as he spoke, about the first time they sat outside and talked about Louis’ past. Louis drug himself out of Harry’s mind and focused on the newcomers instead.

The resemblance between Harry and his sister was stronger than Louis had seen in a long time. The main differences were her eyes, which were brown instead of green, and the freckles that decorated her skin. Their mother must have strong genes, since Louis didn’t see too much of Des in either of them. 

Louis wasn’t sure what he expected, but Nick surprised him a bit. He looked a few years older than Harry, and he was lanky with thick brown hair and a big mouth. He had a nice loud laugh and Louis didn’t need to hear his thoughts to know that he was very fond of Harry. He teased him, but also smiled and listened patiently as Harry took them around the property, pointing out the most random and miniscule things.

He gave them the grand tour, dropping their bags off in the rooms on either side of his own, and they returned to the kitchen where Harry poured them each a glass of water.

“So where is this gorgeous ghost of yours?” Nick asked after a moment. Louis admired Harry’s blush and laughed internally at the slight embarrassment that coursed through Harry at the thought of Louis listening in.

“I’m sure he’s around here somewhere,” Harry said and Louis figured now was as good a time as any to make himself known.

He materialized next to Nick and leaned right into his ear. “Boo.”

Nick let out a near blood curdling scream, causing Harry and Gemma to jump. Louis watched in amusement as Nick ran to hide behind Harry and Gemma, clutching onto Harry’s arm as his heart beat a mile a minute.

“He might be even more dramatic than you are,” Louis said to Harry. Nick made an affronted sound, only further proving Louis’ point. Louis decided he liked him.

“Says the one who always tries to make the most dramatic entrance possible,” Harry countered, trying and failing to hide his smile. “You couldn’t be a little nicer to my best friend?”

Louis poked his bottom lip out in a pout. “I am being nice. I didn’t even do the thing with my sword.”

“Oh you save that just for me, huh?” Harry wiggled his eyebrows and looked pointedly as Louis’ crotch. 

Louis laughed. He’d walked right into that one.

_ Jesus Christ _ , Gemma’s thoughts interrupted Louis’. Surprisingly, she wasn’t scared or even apprehensive at the sight of Louis as he might have expected. Instead, she was exasperated.  _ Leave it to Harry to flirt with an actual ghost _ .

“Anyway,” Harry cleared his throat and pulled Nick to stand at his side. “This is Nick and my sister, Gemma.”

“Hello,” Louis tilted his head in their direction and clasped his hands behind his back. “I’m Louis. It is a pleasure to meet you both.”

“Can’t say the same,” Nick said, placing a hand to his still racing heart. “Were you in here the whole time?”

“I’ve been following you since you arrived,” Louis answered honestly. Gemma raised a single eyebrow at that, but Harry looked unsurprised. 

“Uh,” Nick turned to Harry. “Your ghost boyfriend is kinda creepy, Styles.”

Harry’s neck and cheeks flushed and he elbowed Nick in the stomach in what was probably supposed to be a subtle way but actually wasn’t at all. It all just made Louis even more endeared. Harry had clearly spoken fondly of him.

Louis could feel Nick’s gaze on him, really drinking him in now that he was calming down a bit. Like Harry had been when he met Louis properly, Nick was both intrigued and attracted to him. However, Nick’s attraction didn’t hit Louis like a dart to the heart with its intensity. It was more of a distant, passing thought of appreciation for Louis’ looks.

_ Poor Harry _ , Nick thought in a mixture of amusement and pity as he continued his inspection.  _ His ghost is just his type. _

Louis was certain that if he could blush, his face would match Harry’s. He hadn’t considered Harry having a type, and he certainly wouldn’t have considered himself fitting into it. 

“He can also read minds,” Harry reminded Nick, noting the way Nick was eyeing Louis. “So if you’re being your usual thirsty self, maybe think twice.”

“Was actually worrying more about your thirsty ass,” Nick said, blinking at Harry innocently.

“It’s true,” Louis told Harry, wanting in on the fun. “He thinks I’m just your type.”

Harry swallowed and Louis tracked the movement of his jaw and Adam’s apple before he could stop himself. His jawline seemed more prominent than usual today, his skin soft and glowy. He really was rather lovely. Louis’ memory of him hadn’t done him justice.

“Okay, new rule!” Harry announced. “No thinking about Harry in front of Louis. We don’t need his ego inflated any more than it already is.”

“You’re the only one doing the ego inflating, darling,” Louis teased. 

Nick laughed and nudged Harry’s shoulder. “I like him.”

_ Me too _ , Harry thought and that was almost a bit too much for Louis. 

“I’m hungry,” Gemma said in a bored voice, effectively changing the subject.

“Liam stocked the pantry over the weekend,” Louis informed them, interrupting Harry’s thoughts about what food might be in the kitchen.

Harry nodded and moved towards the pantry and then to the fridge. He grabbed his bottom lip with his thumb and index finger as he surveyed their options.

“I could make tacos?” Harry suggested, turning to gauge Nick and Gemma’s reactions.

“Alright with me,” Nick shrugged and turned to Gemma.

“I’d eat fucking anything right about now,” she said.

Harry nodded and got to work, pulling the appropriate ingredients out of the refrigerator and the pantry and laying them out across the island. 

“Niall always says I’m missing out on tacos,” said Louis. “And pizza. He really hates that I’ve never had pizza.”

“Shit,” Nick shook his head in dismay. “You’ve never had pizza?”

Louis shook his head. “Or chocolate. That’s one Liam brings up a lot.”

“That is the worst thing I’ve ever heard,” Nick told him seriously. “So obviously you can’t eat, but can you, like, smell?”

Louis shook his head again. He’d given anything to be able to smell again. It was probably the sense he missed the most. 

“Nick, don’t be an insensitive dick,” Harry scolded as he moved about the kitchen and Louis could tell that Nick immediately felt bad for possibly offending Louis.

“It’s fine,” Louis assured them both. “I don’t mind. Ask as many questions as you want.”

Nick had a lot of questions about ghosts and unlike Harry, he didn’t filter them because he was worried about making Louis uncomfortable. While Louis appreciated how cautious Harry was, Nick’s straightforwardness was also refreshing. He asked Louis everything that came to mind, from what being a ghost felt like, to how he was able to do all he could do. Louis didn’t understand everything about himself either, but he tried to be as honest in his replies as he could.

“Wait,” Nick said a bit later, as everyone but Louis was sitting down to eat their dinner. “Does your presence have like orb energy? Like, if we take a picture when you’re invisible in a room will there be orbs in the photo?”

Louis blinked. “What?”

“Y’know, orbs,” Nick said, gesturing wildly in what Louis was certain was not the shape of an orb, whatever the hell that was. “It’s a whole thing and why people think their houses are haunted and stuff. Because of orbs in pictures.”

“Oh, yeah!” Harry exclaimed, sitting up straight. “We should test it. Louis, make yourself invisible.”

“Um,” Louis snorted. “No.”

Harry pouted. “But Louis, we have to see if there are orbs.”

Louis huffed. “I don’t even know what that means.”

“Please?” Harry’s pout deepened. That pout was a dangerous weapon. And Louis had seen Liam’s puppy dog eyes in action on multiple occasions, so that was saying something.

Feeling absolutely ridiculous, Louis rolled his eyes and made himself invisible. 

“Kinda creepy how he does that, huh?” Nick asked. “It’s almost easy to forget he’s not real.” Louis was about to protest that he was very real, just not alive, but was interrupted by Harry shushing Nick.

“Are you still in the same spot, Lou?” Harry asked, picking his phone up off the table while Gemma just watched on in amusement and chewed.

_ Yes _ , Louis pushed the thought towards Harry, actively trying not to think about the fact that he just called him  _ Lou _ . Nobody had called him Lou since his family was alive. 

He noticed a shiver run through Harry when his voice entered his mind before Harry snapped the picture. Louis materialized again. 

“Well?” He asked. “Any orbs?”

Harry inspected the picture, frowned, and handed his phone to Nick. “Nothing.”

“Wow. Everything is a lie,” Nick said gravely, crossing his arms over his chest and making Harry laugh. Louis found himself smiling in response to the sound. 

“Maybe he has to project orb energy and he just doesn’t know how to do that,” Harry suggested. Louis had a feeling he was just trying to make Nick feel better, because although he was joking, Louis could tell Nick was actually a bit disappointed about his lack of orbs.

Louis was about to attempt to comfort him, how, he didn’t know, but was interrupted by Liam opening the backdoor and stepping inside. Louis hadn’t even realized he was on the property. He’d been so distracted by Harry and Nick.

“Liam!” Harry stood up and skipped over for a hug. “How are you?”

“Good to see you, mate,” Liam returned the hug and clapped him on the back. “I’m doing well. How was your flight?”

“Long,” Harry groaned and moved to the side to introduce everyone. Liam shook Nick and Gemma’s hands before pulling out a chair and joining them at the table.

Louis let himself fade into the background as Harry and Liam caught up and Liam got to know Nick and Gemma. He noted that Gemma was much more outgoing towards Liam than she had been to Louis. Unlike her brother, Gemma’s thoughts were extremely muted. Over the past couple of hours, Louis caught wind of the occasional thought from her direction, but he found that he had to focus to really hear her clearly.

He tried to listen in on what she was thinking now, but he didn’t get much. Just that she was tired and happy to be eating. Nick on the other hand, was easy to read. He was currently thinking very appreciative thoughts about Liam that made Louis smile. It was nice to hear someone think those thoughts and not feel any shame.

Louis often mourned the life he lost, the person he didn’t get to be when he was alive. He was beyond happy that he got to witness the world change around him to become more open and accepting of people like him, but he also got depressed if he thought too deeply about it. It didn’t seem fair.

Not wanting his bad mood to effect the room, he drifted through the walls and hallways and into the libraries. 

_ Louis?  _ Harry’s voice echoed in the back of Louis mind a moment later. Louis shuddered. Harry had never tried to communicate with him like this before. Only a few ever had. Liam did on occasion and usually only when Louis initiated the conversation. Niall simply bellowed Louis’ name if he wanted to speak with him. 

_ Yes?  _ Louis thought back. 

_ Why’d you leave? _

Louis couldn’t believe his absence had been noticed so quickly. He had no idea that Harry was so aware of him. Louis hadn’t been listening in and Harry hadn’t seemed to be paying attention.

_ I’m just feeling a bit sorry for myself at the moment,  _ Louis told him honestly. 

Harry didn’t know what to say about that and after a few moments, he settled for apologizing, even though nothing was his fault.

_ You’ve nothing to apologize for _ , Louis thought, but his mood was already lifting. Harry seemed to have that effect on him.

_ Well, I’m still sorry that you feel bad.  _ Harry responded. _ It’s good to see you. _ A pause.  _ Missed you. _

Louis hesitated. He had a feeling that if his heart could beat, it would be racing. He’d always been so weak for a pretty face and some kind words. At this point, he was almost starved for them. 

_Missed you too._ _Now, pay attention to Liam and your guests. Wake up at a decent hour and the two of us can catch up in the morning._

He could tell Harry was rolling his eyes and smirked as he waited for Harry’s response. 

_ I’m holding you to that, Tomlinson _

\---

On Nick and Gemma’s last day at Stonecreek, in the early morning while Harry and Nick were still asleep, Louis met Gemma in the garden. He’d heard her thinking about him and he was in an accommodating mood. Plus, he hadn’t gotten to know her as well as Nick on this trip. She was much more guarded, but Louis wanted to get to know her better all the same. 

“Good morning,” he said softly, so as not to startle her. She turned to him and nodded. With her hair pulled back and her face free of make up, she looked even more like Harry than she had in the days before. Louis wondered again what their mother looked like and it made him miss his own mum. His sisters had looked so much like her.

“The weather seems nice this morning,” Louis continued when Gemma didn’t say anything in return. The sun was bright and Louis could see the rustle of the wind gliding through the trees.

“It’s a bit muggy,” Gemma told him, shrugging one shoulder. “But overall not too bad.”

Louis would probably do anything to be able to complain about the weather. It was something he felt so many people took for granted. 

“Did you sleep well?” Louis asked, mentally patting himself on the back for keeping his promise to Liam and being a good host.

“What are you doing with my brother?” Gemma asked instead of answering his question.

“What do you mean?” Louis was honestly surprised by the question. 

She looked him dead in the eye. “I know there’s a curse or whatever that you’re trying to break.”

That wasn’t entirely true. Louis had given up on breaking the curse over a century ago, At this point, he was almost certain he was a lost cause. He just hadn’t shared that information with anyone yet. He wasn’t going to start by sharing the news with Gemma Styles.

Louis hadn’t told Harry not to tell anyone about the curse, but he thought it was implied. Not many people knew. Harry was the first Styles to know in a while, and Louis only told him because he knew his intentions with the information were pure. Harry was also the first Styles who actively thought about helping Louis, rather than just wishing they could get rid of him. Aside from Harry, the only other people who knew details of the curse were in the Payne family, and Niall and Zayn.

“Harry told you about the curse?” Louis asked, slightly annoyed. 

“Only very vaguely,” Gemma replied. Louis listened to her mind for a second and could tell that she was telling the truth. She didn’t know any details. Just that there was a curse that kept Louis at Stonecreek and Harry wanted to help Louis break it.

“Well,” Louis looked back at the castle, in the direction of the window to Harry’s bedroom. He could hear that he was still sleeping, mind calm and quiet. “I’m not sure what the curse has got to do with Harry.”

Gemma looked unimpressed. “You can read his mind. I know you know how much he wants to help you. He’s going to try to break the curse, and he doesn’t need to be messing around with that stuff.”

Louis paused. “The Payne family has been trying to break the curse for centuries with no luck. I’m sure Harry will give up before he gets anywhere dangerous.”

“I doubt it. You were all he could talk about when he got home last month. This matters to him. He’s got a crush on you.”

On some level, Louis was aware that Harry fancied him. He knew that Harry found him attractive, and that he liked it when he made Louis laugh. Harry thought about Louis frequently and liked being around him. His heartbeat picked up sometimes when Louis smiled at him or flirted with him. Louis knew all of these things, but hearing someone else call it a crush made him feel odd. As if it made both his and Harry’s feelings more real than he’d allowed himself to acknowledge.

“I doubt it’s anything serious,” Louis told her. Harry was beautiful and smart and charming. He could have anyone he wanted. Louis was just a passing fantasy.

“It is serious,” Gemma insisted. “Harry’s only had serious crushes on like three people his entire life and he ended up in relationships with all of them. Aside from the shit with that fuckhead  _ Joel _ ,” she said his name like a nasty swear, and Louis could relate. “He’s never had to learn to handle rejection.”

Louis hesitated, unsure of what Gemma wanted to achieve with this conversation. “I wouldn’t reject him, though.”

“But you can’t really be what he needs either.”

It wasn’t anything Louis hadn’t already thought himself, but it sounded worse coming from Harry’s sister. From someone close to him, who knew him deeply and wanted happiness for him.

“He’s going to try to help you and I don’t want him getting hurt in the process.”

“I don’t want him getting hurt either.” 

Gemma made a frustrated noise in the back of her throat. “You’re going to hurt him either way. Whatever you’re doing may seem harmless now, but Harry has been known to let his heart get away from him.”

Louis didn’t know how to assure her that he had no intentions of hurting Harry, because he knew on some level she was right. Harry already liked him and Louis didn’t know what to do about it. He was already addicted to the feeling of being the subject of Harry’s adoration. 

“Gemma,” Louis said softly but firmly, waiting until she made eye contact with him. “I’ll be careful with him. I promise.”

Gemma sighed and nodded. “Okay.”

He smiled in what he hoped was a reassuring way and they sat together in silence for a while. Gemma admired the scenery and Louis tried not to think too hard about their conversation. Harry’s presence was one of the best things to happen to him in a long time and he wanted to enjoy him for a little while longer.

“Nick’s awake,” Louis broke their silence when he heard the man in question grumbling to himself as he headed to the bathroom.

Gemma stared at him. “It’s honestly so creepy how you do that.”

Louis laughed. “Stay here long enough and you get used to it.”

_ Doubt it _ , Gemma thought. “Well, I guess I should start getting ready. We have to leave for the airport soon.”

“Will you tell Nick I said goodbye?” asked Louis. “I think I’m going to roam the grounds for a bit.”

“Sure thing,” Gemma stood up and stretched. 

“It was nice to meet you,” Louis told her. He waited for her nod and smile before vanishing and floating around to the back of the property.

Sometimes, when Louis was feeling especially sorry for himself, he’d travel to the edge of the property and try and fail to leave, over and over again, until he couldn’t take it anymore. He wasn’t doing that this morning, but he was at the edge of the property when Nick and Gemma left a couple of hours later, riding as passengers in Liam’s car to the train station. 

Louis took that as his queue to return to the castle. He found Harry in the library, singing softly to himself as he searched for a book to read. That wouldn’t do. Louis had him alone in the castle for the first time in weeks. He wanted all of Harry’s attention. 

Harry turned his head and smiled at Louis briefly, acknowledging his presence.

“It seemed like everyone had a nice time,” Louis told him.

“Yeah,” Harry grabbed a book and flipped through the pages. “I think Nick’s about ready to pack up our Chicago office and open a place in London. He couldn’t stop going on about Liam and his accent. He’s ridiculous.”

“He’s definitely entertaining,” Louis agreed. “It was good to meet your sister, too. She cares a lot about you.”

“Yeah, Gemma’s great,” Harry agreed. “What was your family like?” 

Louis paused. Even after all this time, he still missed them so much. Remembering them still hurt, but he didn’t want to forget them either. It was probably good for him to talk about them.

“They were entirely too lovely,” he told Harry. 

_ They would be _ , Harry thought,  _ Being related to Louis _ .

Louis frowned. He really didn’t deserve to be thought of so fondly.

“I wish I could have met them, seen what they looked like, how they treated you.”

Louis hummed consideringly. “I could show you, if you’d like.”

“What do you mean?” Harry asked and Louis could hear him wondering if there was a portrait of the Tomlinson family hidden away in one of the rooms he hadn’t yet explored. There wasn’t, but Louis thought his memory still did his family justice. 

“Come with me,” Louis said and led Harry out of the castle and into the garden.

He could still hear Harry’s confusion, but instead of explaining, Louis simply closed his eyes as he drew up one of his favorite memories. He could feel a small smile playing on his lips as he transformed the garden around him. When he opened his eyes again, he was rewarded with Harry looking around himself, absolutely gobsmacked. 

It was one of Louis’ favorites because it was so simple and boring and portrayed his family as he remembered them best. Charlotte and Felicite were sitting on a bench, watching as Louis taught Daisy and Phoebe how to hold a sword. Each of them had their own wooden sword in hand and intense looks of concentration on their faces as Louis modeled the proper stance for them. He stepped back after a moment and let them play fight each other, their giggles ringing in the air as they tripped over each other. 

“Mother is going to kill you for giving them those swords,” Charlotte muttered when Louis joined her and Felicite on the bench to watch the twins go at it. 

Mother, who had a knack for knowing when she was being talked about, took that opportunity to walk outside and call the girls inside, half-heartedly scolding Louis for allowing them to get dirty. She was smiling though, clearly not as annoyed as she was pretending to be. Louis missed her so much.

“She’s beautiful, Louis,” Harry murmured, eyes focused on Johanna. “They’re all beautiful.”

“I know,” Louis whispered back, allowing the memory to dissolve until it was just him and Harry standing outside again, staring at the now empty garden.

“Thank you for showing me.” Fondness for him flowed out of Harry in waves, mixed with empathy and longing. Louis had never felt anything quite like it. Perhaps Gemma was right. Harry’s feelings were more serious that Louis had given him credit for.

*****

Harry was loading the dishwasher and chatting with Louis on a Saturday night, music playing from the Alexa on the kitchen counter, when Niall barged in through the side door. A few months ago that probably would have startled Harry, but he was getting used to things popping up out of nowhere.

“You’re coming out tonight,” Niall announced, pointing at Harry. He was clad in pale blue shorts that fit him well and a patterned button down shirt, which was quite different from the dirty jeans and t-shirts he wore to work around the property. His hair was styled and his beard was trimmed. He looked quite handsome.

“There’s places to go out to around here?” Harry asked, arching his eyebrows in surprise as he poured detergent into the dishwasher.

Niall chuckled. “Only one that’s decent. A pub that a friend of mine works at in town. I’m meeting some friends in about an hour and you’re coming with. Liam and Zayn will be there.”

“You should go,” Louis encouraged him. “Get out of the castle for a bit.”

Harry nodded. As much as he enjoyed spending time in Stonecreek with Louis, it was time for him to meet more people and establish roots here, and he was touched that Niall thought to invite him.

“Sure, sounds fun."

“Legend!” Niall cheered. “Go get changed. I’m driving. We’re gonna get you shit-faced.”

“Oh, God,” Harry groaned. “I wanted to be productive tomorrow.”

“Why?” Niall asked seriously. “Tomorrow’s Sunday.”

Harry rolled his eyes. Fair enough. “Fine, let me get changed.”

He left Niall and Louis in the kitchen to sprint up the stairs. He only had about three outfits to choose from, with half of his clothes being back in Chicago and the fact that he always put off doing laundry for as long as possible. He settled on a plain black tee with blue jeans and his bomber jacket with the rainbow on the back. He brushed his teeth and ran some balm through his hair to make it less frizzy before heading back down to meet Niall.

They said their goodbyes to Louis as they got into Niall’s car. Niall turned down the music as he pulled out of the driveway and started speeding down the road.

“So, you and Louis seem to be getting along,” he said, resting one hand on the top of the steering wheel and turning away from Harry.

“Yeah,” Harry agreed. Getting along was probably an understatement Louis already felt like one of the best friends Harry had ever had. “He’s great company.”

“We told ya so,” Niall said. “It’s kinda eerie when you remember he’s a ghost. He acts like he could just be one of the lads most of the time.”

Harry nodded. Niall was right. It was often way too easy for Harry to forget Louis wasn’t actually living. He often found himself thinking of Louis as a roommate. A really attractive and lovely roommate who he’d never be able to survive around if things were different, but a roommate nonetheless. 

“I wish we could help him,” said Harry, shifting in the passenger seat to look at Niall.

He glanced at Harry, a line forming between his eyebrows, before looking back at the road.

“Don’t get any ideas, Styles,” Niall said. “The Paynes have tried everything they can think of. Anything else that could help Louis is probably stupid dangerous.”

He sounded like Gemma. She was extremely against Harry looking into the curse. He hadn’t thought too much about it yet, mostly because he didn’t know where to start, but he couldn’t stop himself from wondering. 

Niall pulled into the small but crowded parking lot of a bar named Duke & Son, snagging a spot another car had just pulled out of. 

“Who’s Duke?” Harry asked as they exited the car and walked towards the entrance.

“Nobody has any fucking idea,” Niall said. He paused before he pushed open the door. “Oh, yeah. I hope you like karaoke.”

“What!” Harry stopped in his tracks. “You didn’t tell me to expect karaoke!”

Niall simply shoved him through the door. The bar was pretty dingy. The floor was sticky, the air smelled of stale cigarettes and booze, and the paint was peeling off of the door. But the place was packed. Harry would bed almost everyone of legal drinking age in the entire town was currently at the bar.   


“You go get a drink,” Niall said, continuing to push Harry in the direction of the bar. “I’ll find us a table.”

“Sure,” Harry nodded once and walked over to bar. He leaned against the counter as he waited for the bartender, only turning to his right when he felt someone move into the space next to him. The man was pretty, a little bit taller than Harry, with dark hair and eyes, and a strong jawline. 

“Hi,” the man said when he noticed Harry staring at him. 

“Hi,” Harry said back with a small smile.

“I’m Shawn.” The guy held his hand out and Harry stared at his arm. He had really nice biceps and tattoos on his hand and forearm.

Harry blinked and shook his hand. “Harry.”

“At the risk of sounding like a small town cliche, are you new in town?” Shawn asked, smiling at Harry with perfect teeth. “I’ve never seen you before.” 

Before Harry could answer, the bartender came to stand in front of the pair of them.

“What can I get you?” she asked as she placed a small bowl of pretzels in front of him.

“I’ll have a vodka soda, please,” Harry told her.

“On my tab,” Shawn said and Harry smiled and ducked his head. He wasn’t really interested, but it had been a while since a cute boy bought him a drink. He was slightly surprised that Shawn was forward enough to buy a man he’d never met before a drink in a small town pub. Then he remembered he was wearing a jacket with a giant rainbow painted on the back.

The bartender gave Shawn a look Harry couldn’t read, but didn’t comment. She made Harry’s drink and didn’t bother asking Shawn what he wanted before she started mixing together whiskey and coke. She placed both drinks in front of them before wordlessly moving down to the other end of the bar. 

“To answer your prior question,” Harry said after taking a sip of his drink. “I am new in town. Kind of living here part time.”

“Cool,” Shawn nodded. “Where are you from?”

“Chicago, Illinois,” Harry told him. “In the States. Are you from here?””

Shawn’s answer was cut off by the arrival of Liam and Zayn, who stopped briefly to say hello to Harry and Shawn before moving on to the booth Niall had snagged near the stage.

“Already met Li and Zayn, then?” Shawn asked, looking both curious and a bit surprised. 

Harry nodded. “Yeah, Liam is my… employee, I guess?” It felt weird thinking of him that way when Liam knew far more about Stonecreek than Harry did. “He’s my steward.”

“Wait,” Shawn’s eyes widened. “Are you the newest Styles to take over Stonecreek Castle?”

“That’s me,” Harry shrugged, trying for nonchalant. 

“Then you know Niall too,” Shawn concluded, but before Harry could confirm, the man in question shouted his name across the room. Harry turned to see Niall gesturing for him to joining them.

“I’m being summoned,” Harry said apologetically, but Shawn didn’t seem bothered. “Thanks again for the drink.”

He waved goodbye as he headed towards the booth.   


“How are you, mate?” Liam asked when Harry came to stand at the end of the table.

“A cute boy just bought me a drink, so I’m feeling pretty good.” Harry took a sip of said drink. “How are you guys?”

“Shawn bought you a drink?” Niall asked, talking over Liam as he began to fill Harry in on what he’d done on his day off.

“Yeah,” Harry held up his drink as proof. “He seems sweet.”

“Huh.” Niall just stared at him for a moment before ducking around Harry’s shoulder and looking at the bar, where Shawn and the bartender were now talking to each other. The bartender was laughing at whatever Shawn had to say. She was petty, with tanned skin and long brown hair.  


That wasn’t the reaction Harry was expecting from Niall and he turned to Liam and Zayn to get some clarification. “Is Shawn... not sweet?”

“Oh, Niall sure is sweet on him,” Liam commented, biting his lip as if he was trying not to laugh.

Zayn hummed and lit a cigarette. “And he’s not the only one Niall’s sweet on.”

Niall tore his gaze away from the bar to glare at the two of them. “Fuck off.”

He stood up from the booth, mumbling something about needing a drink himself, before stalking up to the bar. Harry was beyond intrigued. He slid into the space Niall had just vacated and placed his drink down onto the sticky table.

“Um,” he said, looking back and forth between Liam and Zayn, who were giving nothing away. “Spill. Immediately. ”

Liam hesitated, clasping his hands together. “It’s not really our business?”

Zayn blew out a long stream of smoke. “I don’t know. Niall kinda made it Harry’s business when he got super jealous that the guy he refuses to commit to bought Harry a drink.”

_ Refuses to commit to?  _ Harry needed more details like yesterday.

“Yeah,” Harry agreed with Zayn. “I deserve to be filled in.”

Liam ran a hand over his face. “I honestly don’t even know where to start.”

“Then I will,” Zayn rolled his eyes and leaned closer to Harry, placing his elbows on the table and clasping his hands together. “Niall and Hailee dated in secondary.”

“Okay,” Harry nodded, trying to remember if he knew Hailee before giving up. “Who is Hailee?”

“Oh, sorry. Thought you met her.” Zayn pointed to the bar, where the bartender who’d taken Harry’s order was making drinks and trying and failing to hide the fact that she was distracted by looking over at Niall and Shawn every few seconds. “That’s Hailee.”

Harry watched her for a moment before turning back to Zayn and Liam. “Interesting. Continue.”

“Right, so Niall and Hailee dated in school. They were like the golden couple, everyone thought they’d get married right after graduation, you know the type.”

Harry did know the type. He’d always been jealous of the type. Young straight couples who weren’t afraid to flaunt their relationship, who didn’t have to worry about the reaction from their teachers or peers or families.

“Obviously they didn’t get married,” Liam cut in. “They broke up a couple years ago when Hailee decided she wanted to go to university. She didn’t want to do long distance.”

“Niall was really dramatic about it,” said Zayn. “Think he mentioned before that he doesn’t handle breakups well? He was proper out of it for a bit, but he got over it eventually.”

“And then he met Shawn.” Liam paused. “Well, he didn’t  _ meet _ him. We’ve all known Shawn forever. But they started hanging out. We probably never would have found out it was more than platonic if it wasn’t for Louis.”

Harry snorted. “Does Louis just air out everyone’s business, then?”

“Nah,” Liam smiled. “He’s pretty good about keeping things to himself most of the time. I think Niall’s inner monologue was just starting to piss him off.”

Harry could see that. He could imagine Louis rolling his eyes as Niall went back and forth with himself. He could also picture Louis telling him to get his shit together once he got fed up with Niall’s thought process.

“Anyway,” Zayn interjected. “Niall started hanging out with Shawn, and then when Hailee came home from uni, the three of them started hanging out together. We don’t know all of the details, but we think Hailee and Shawn are ready to make things serious. Niall just needs a bit of a push.”

“But it’s difficult to push him because he’s always been super private about his love life, so it’s not something he likes to talk about. And we don’t want to like, pry where we aren’t wanted.”

Their conversation was cut off by the appearance of Shawn at the head of the table. 

“Harry, you up for singing a duet with me for karaoke in a bit?”

Harry glanced at Liam and Zayn, who both looked amused, but nodded in encouragement. Fuck it. He knew he was just being used to make Niall jealous, but he decided not to care. This could be fun.

He pretended to consider Shawn’s offer for a bit longer. “Depends on how much I have to drink and what song you have in mind.”

Shawn shrugged. “Your choice. And a round of shots on me.”

Liam and Zayn cheered as Shawn left the table again with promises of tequila. An hour, several shots and three drinks later found Harry and Shawn on stage belting “Endless Love” to each other as the crowd whooped and hollered and Liam, Zayn, and Niall laughed so hard they cried. Niall sang a surprisingly good rendition of “Rhiannon” by Fleetwood Mac and Zayn and Liam sang Usher’s “Yeah” together. Harry got up again to sing a theatrical version of “Man, I Feel Like a Woman” and with much coaxing, Niall and Shawn got Hailee to leave the bar and perform as well. 

By the end of the night, Harry’s mind was pleasantly hazy and he couldn’t stop smiling. Liam was going on an endless rant about how they should all form a band and Niall kept mumbling about how he was too sober for this.   


“I love you guys,” Harry told Niall as they left the bar in the early hours of the morning, their small group having stayed behind to help Hailee and the other bartenders clean up. “You’re my new best friend.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Niall said, helping Harry into his car. He turned his head to address the rest of the group. “Listen up! I had a lot of fun with you lot tonight, but nobody fucking talk to me tomorrow. Love you all, but I won’t be leaving my bed or checking my phone until at least four in the afternoon.”

“Nobody wants to talk to you anyway, you grump!” Liam shouted back. His face was extremely close to Zayn, who winced and rubbed at the ear Liam was screaming into.

Niall flipped him off as he slammed the passenger door shut for Harry and jogged around to the driver’s seat.

“I’m never offering to drive again,” Niall muttered as he sped out of the parking lot. “You lot were too much to handle sober.”

“Thank youuu,” Harry sang and Niall just huffed, reaching over to turn on the radio.

The two of them hummed along to the newest Dua Lipa song and Harry rested his forehead against the window as Niall drove them home. It was too dark to enjoy the scenery, but if Harry twisted his head just right, he could get a good look at the stars overhead. They reached Stonecreek way too quickly and Harry had to brace himself before he tried to exit the car.

“You’re a fuckin’ mess,” Niall shook his head and tugged Harry along. “We’re so late. Louis is probably worried sick.”

He pushed open the back door and Louis met them in the kitchen almost immediately, which most likely proved Niall’s theory. Harry noted him surveying the situation before he spoke, his mouth set in a hard line and his eyes blazing. He was so pretty. 

“Did you lads have a good time?” Louis asked eventually, seeming to relax after ensuring everyone was in one piece.

“You’re pretty,” Harry told him as he leaned nearly all of his weight against Niall and gazed at Louis. It was important that Louis knew that. “Prettiest ever.”

“As you can probably see,” Niall spoke over Harry. “Harry here had a blast.”

“I made Niall jealous,” Harry said proudly. Niall made a noise of protest.

“You fucking did not.”

“Did so.”

Louis looked back and forth between them and Harry was almost certain he was pulling information out of their minds. A moment later, Louis smirked at Niall. “He definitely made you jealous.”

Niall rolled his eyes. “What the fuck ever.”

Harry threw his head back and laughed. Louis joined in and Harry stopped to listen to the sound.

“You need to get to bed,” Louis told Harry. “Niall, do you want to stay the night? It’s late.”

“Nah,” Niall said. “I’m fine. I’ll text Harry when I get home if it makes you feel better, though.”

“It will, yeah.”

Harry briefly nodded and turned around to head up to bed himself, suddenly too tired to stand for much longer. 

“Goodnight, Harry!” Niall called after him. Harry waved a hand behind himself and yawned. He could hear Niall and Louis still talking amongst themselves as he climbed the stairs, but they must have just been saying their goodbyes, because Harry could see Niall’s headlights shining outside as he tore off his clothes and collapsed into bed.

He pulled up social media to keep himself occupied until he received Niall’s text that he’d made it home alright. He was still drunk enough that liking every picture he came across on instagram seemed like a good idea and he fell asleep seconds after Niall’s text popped up on his screen.   
  


He woke up the next morning with a headache and a raging hard on.

Harry pressed the heel of his hand to his bulge, initial intent being to readjust and ignore the problem, but he instantly changed his mind. He hadn’t properly masturbated in weeks, tending to take care of himself quickly in the shower these days, and he thought he deserved it today. He pushed his briefs down and kicked them to the side as he wrapped his hand around his length. 

He closed his eyes and pictured Louis’ mouth around him, looking up at Harry from underneath his ridiculous eyelashes. He’d probably somehow manage to smirk around him when Harry got close. He paused when he considered that Louis might be listening in on this. Harry knew he’d gotten a lot better at tuning Harry out, but the possibility that Louis might be listening in both mortified him and turned him on even more. 

It was probably rude to rub one out while thinking about Louis without his consent. He couldn’t help himself from wondering though, what the stubble of Louis’ beard would feel like against his cheeks if they could kiss, what it would feel like against his bare chest if Louis was able to rest his head there, or against his thighs as he blew him. If he’d take his time teasing Harry, or make him come hard and fast.

He really needed to think about literally anything else.

_ No _ , Louis’ voice echoed softly in his head. Harry’s breath hitched.  _ No need to stop on my account, love. _

_ Oh, my God,  _ Harry thought back, ripping his hand away from his cock. _ I’m so sorry. _

_ I don’t mind. Just wish I could join you. Sounds like fun. _

Harry hesitated before sending another thought Louis’ way. He swallowed.  _ You could if you wanted to. Join me. _

He didn’t know what the hell he was doing, and he knew that it was stupid. He also knew that he wanted Louis there with him. If things were different, he was positive that they would have fallen in bed together by now anyway. 

_ Not sure if that’s a good idea, darling. _

Harry tried again. _ Please? Want you in here with me. _

A few silent moments passed before Louis materialized by the window, facing away from Harry. 

“Aren’t you going to look at me?” Harry asked, simultaneously amused and on edge. He was almost certain that if Louis so much as glanced in his direction that he’d shoot his load on the spot. He’d always been a bit of an exhibitionist, and Louis was overwhelming enough already.

He started moving his hand again, slowly stroking up and down, twisting his hand just right. He closed his eyes briefly, imagining it was Louis' hand instead. He pushed the thought in Louis' direction and Louis groaned. Harry's eyes snapped open at the sound, but Louis still wasn't looking at him. Harry whined

"Lou," he whimpered, bringing his other hand down to cup his balls. "Wanna see you.

Louis huffed. "Are you trying to kill me all over again, Harry?"

Harry was about to start pouting. "Please?"

Louis did him one better. In the blink of an eye he was sitting with Harry on the bed, looking into his eyes intently. Harry smiled at him and closed his eyes briefly, getting lost in the feeling of his hand around his cock and the knowledge that Louis' eyes were finally on him.

His voice echoed firmly in the back of Harry's mind. _ Open your eyes. If I have to look at you, then you have to look at me. _

Harry shuddered and opened his eyes obediently. Louis' eyes were beautiful, his expression strained. His eyes didn't stray from Harry's face as Harry worked himself over. Somehow, that felt more intimate than if Louis were to run his gaze all over Harry's naked body.

"Wish you could touch me," Harry whispered, voice hitching as he got close.

Louis didn't respond to that, simply watching Harry's face as he brought himself closer and closer to the edge. Harry noted the way his gaze dropped to Harry's mouth when he bit at his bottom lip before jumping back up to his eyes 

"Stop," Louis said after a moment.

Harry furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. He didn't think he'd been doing anything wrong.

"Stop touching yourself," Louis clarified.

Harry hesitated for only a moment before slowly bringing his hands to rest on his thighs. Louis smiled and for the first time, his eyes left Harry's face and slowly traveled down his body before landing on his dick, red and hard with pre-come bubbling at the tip. Louis hummed and licked his lips as his gaze travelled back up to Harry's face.

"Again," he ordered simply.

Harry's breath hitched and he obeyed, wrapping a firm hand around himself again. He found himself lifting his head up for a kiss before he remembered the situation, who Louis was and where they were. He whimpered and squeezed his eyes shut in disappointment. Louis made a noise of disapproval and Harry quickly opened his eyes again.

"Good," Louis said. "Now stop."

Fuck. They may not be able to touch or kiss one another, but Louis was going to destroy Harry anyway. His hands shook as he pulled them away from himself again.

Louis hummed and then his voice entered Harry’s mind once more.  _ Again. Slowly. _

Harry took a deep breath before he pulled at his cock again, squeezing hard but moving his hand slowly as Louis had instructed. Louis let him keep at that pace for a while, until Harry thought he’d start going crazy because he was so close but still needed a bit more to push him over the edge.

“Please,” he gasped, back arching slightly off the bed when he gave himself a particularly good tug.

Louis waited a few seconds before he nodded. “Okay. Bit faster now.”

Harry complied and not even a minute later he was gasping and spilling over into his hand. Louis talked him through it, giving him soft words of encouragement and holding Harry’s gaze.

“How’d you know that’s exactly what I’m into?” Harry asked when he caught his breath.

“I can read your mind, darling,” Louis reminded him.

Right. Harry closed his eyes and stretched, feeling relaxed and satisfied.  _ Thank you _ , he thought.  _ That was perfect. _

“You’re quite dangerous,” Louis murmured in response . “Not sure I should have encouraged you like that.”

Harry opened his eyes again and beamed at him. “It was amazing.” Only thing that would have made it better would be getting to touch Louis, feel his body heat against his skin.

“Please, don’t think about that,” Louis said. “It’ll only makes it worse.”

Harry ducked his head. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay. It’s not like I haven’t thought the same things. I wish I could touch you so badly.”

Shit. Harry took a shaky breath. Knowing Louis probably wanted to touch Harry was one thing, but hearing him say it was another. 

“You’re right,” he whispered. “Talking about it makes it worse.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i hope everyone is enjoying this story so far! thanks for reading. comments and kudos are loved and appreciated :)
> 
> tumblr: @littlelouishiccups


	4. Autumn

Louis disappeared after their morning together, much like he did during Harry’s first couple of weeks at Stonecreek. Harry couldn’t find him anywhere. He knew Louis’ typical haunting spots by now. He could almost always find him in the library or out on the grounds, but Louis wasn’t in his usual spots. When he was unable to locate him, Harry tried calling out to him mentally, but Louis didn’t respond. Losing Louis would have made Harry a bit anxious on a good day, but given the circumstances, he was more on edge than he’d been in months.

“He does this occasionally,” Liam assured him when Harry voiced his concerns over lunch after Louis had been absent for almost a week. “I think being around us all the time uses a lot of his energy. It’s kind of like he’s recharging. He’ll show up again in a couple of days ready to annoy us as usual.”

Harry tried his best to let Liam’s words comfort him, but he still couldn’t help feeling like he’d done something wrong, pushed Louis too far and made him uncomfortable. Or maybe Louis was angry with him.

“I mean, you didn’t do something to piss him off or anything, right?” Liam asked, as if he could read Harry’s thoughts.

Harry chewed on his bottom lip shrugged. He wasn’t about to tell Liam why the timing of Louis’ disappearance was causing him so much anxiety. He probably wouldn’t ever tell anyone about the morning they shared together. He didn’t know how he would even begin to explain that he’d basically had sex with a ghost. He especially wasn’t going to bring it up if Louis hadn’t enjoyed it as much as he did.

“I don’t know,” Harry told Liam. “I mean, I didn’t think so.”

“Then I wouldn’t worry about it,” Liam said, but he was eyeing Harry curiously. “He’ll turn up eventually. He’s kind of stuck here, you know?”

Like Harry needed the reminder. 

“Right,” he swallowed and nodded before forcing himself to change the subject. “Anyway, what should I wear to this thing tonight?”

It was the first weekend of September, and Niall was having a small party at his house to celebrate his and Liam’s birthdays. Surprisingly, although he’d been in town for a couple of months now, Harry had never been to Niall’s. He didn’t spend that much time out of the castle if he was being honest. He’d ventured to the market a few times, as well as to a couple of the local antique shops, and there was a pub in town with really good pies that he frequented, but for the most part he tended to stay home. With Louis.

“It’ll be pretty casual,” Liam said. “I’m just wearing jeans.”

Harry almost pouted. He hadn’t had an excuse to dress up in a while and he loved a good excuse to dress up.

Liam got up from the table and took Harry’s finished plate from him on his way to the sink. 

“I’m picking Zayn up on my way over if you want to go together,” he suggested as he placed their dishes in the sink and turned on the water.

“Nah, don’t worry about it. You’d just have to bring me back here at the end of the night,” Harry pointed out. “That doesn’t make sense.”

Liam had the next few days off to celebrate his birthday and he and Zayn were going to Edinburgh for the week. 

“Let me know if you change your mind,” Liam replied with a shrug. “I’m about to go into town. Need anything?”

Harry sent Liam off with a small list and then skyped with Nick for a couple of hours while they finished up a project. Working remotely had worked well enough when Harry first moved, but he was starting to realize there was stuff he couldn’t do away from the office. Luckily, he was travelling back to The States for a while in just a little over a week after Liam returned from his trip. Which was another reason why he wished Louis was show up soon. Harry didn’t want to leave the country without knowing things were okay between them. Especially since his return flight wasn’t booked until after Thanksgiving.

He was still planning his next couple of months out in his head as he headed into town later that evening. He stopped by the grocery stop to pick up a couple of bottles of wine and then plugged Niall’s address into his GPS. The street in front of his house was crowded with cars when he pulled up, and he had to park a little ways down. Niall and Liam had said this was a ‘small get together’ but Harry was beginning to wonder what their definition of small was. 

Niall’s house was small and homey and Harry found himself impressed with Niall’s interior decorating skills as he entered the front door. He hadn’t expected much, but the house was cute. Art hung on the walls of the living room and throw pillows were artfully placed and fluffed on the couch. A beautiful rug was spread out on the old wooden floors and Harry had to stop himself from bending over to inspect the tag.

Everyone was gathered in the kitchen, where a vase of flowers sat on the small wooden dining room table, and inexplicably, a black and white portrait of Barack Obama hung on the wall. Harry made a mental note to ask about that later. He spotted Liam and Zayn sitting at the table and waved.

“Harry!” Liam greeted him with a smile, standing up to pull Harry into a hug as if he hadn’t seen him just a few hours prior. 

Everyone paused their conversations to look at Harry with interest. Harry resisted the urge to duck his head.

“Guys, this is Harry Styles,” Liam introduced him to the room at large. The only person he knew aside from Zayn was Hailee and nobody else was jumping at the chance to introduce themselves, so he raised his hand in a shy wave.

“Hello.”

“Styles? No shit?” one of the guys said, looking Harry up and down. Not in a sexual way, more in an intrigued way. 

Harry shrugged. “No shit.”

Everyone continued to stare at him, making Harry increasingly uncomfortable, until Niall skipped into the room with a bottle of tequila.

“SHOTS!” he yelled, effectively taking the attention off of Harry as everyone turned to Niall and cheered, immediately crowding around to take their shot.

Harry clinked glasses with a short brunette wearing a sparkly crop top. Harry liked anyone who wore sparkles, so he held his hand out to her after they dutifully took their shot. “I’m Harry.” 

“I heard,” she smiled and shook his hand. “I’m Maren.”

“Nice to meet you,” He returned her smile. “Are you a friend of Liam or Niall’s?”

“Both,” she said. “But I’m closer to Niall. I actually used to live here. Niall and I were roommates for a couple of years until I got married and moved to Manchester.”

Harry wondered if Niall had a new roommate to replace Maren. He’d assumed Niall lived alone, but he realized he actually had no clue. Niall was so private and Harry never wanted to pry. 

“Is your partner here?” Harry asked Maren instead, glancing up to scan the room. Liam and Niall had abandoned him again, so Zayn was the only person still in the kitchen that Harry knew. 

Maren turned to look around the room with Harry and he watched as she made eye contact with a tall man who was standing in the corner by himself, drinking a beer. She beckoned him with a smirk and a crook of her finger. The man kicked off the wall and walked over so Maren could introduce the two of them.

“Harry, this is my husband, Ryan.”

Ryan put one hand to the small of Maren’s back and leaned forward to shake Harry’s hand with the other. The height difference between Maren and Ryan was almost comical. He was so tall.

“So, are you a celebrity or something?” Ryan asked, causing Harry to sputter and Maren to throw her head back in laughter. 

“Ryan’s not from here,” Maren told Harry before turning to Ryan. “You could say he’s a bit of a local celebrity. Harry’s family owns the castle we passed on the way into town.”

“Oh,” Ryan nodded once. “...and that’s a big deal?”

Harry decided he liked Ryan. He didn’t understand the attention either. A few of the people around them had actually turned to listen in on their conversation and he was struggling not to cover his face in embarrassment 

“Nobody in Harry’s family has lived in Stonecreek Castle in forever,” Maren tried explaining. “So it’s just kind of a big deal that someone finally decided to stay in the place. Rumor says the castle is haunted and the men in Harry’s family end up cursed if they live there.”

Harry raised his eyebrows. That was a new one. 

“It looks like that’s news to Harry,” Ryan pointed at Harry’s expression.

“I’d heard the haunted rumor,” Harry admitted. It would be stupid of him to pretend otherwise. Nobody would believe him. “But I didn’t know anything about a curse on the men in my family.”

Maren shrugged and rolled her eyes. “The rumors change depending on the day and who you talk to.”

“Yeah,” a man to their left joined the conversation. “I actually heard the other day that the Stonecreek demon has possessed Harry’s body and that’s why Harry decided to stay in town.”

Jesus Christ.

“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” Zayn sidled up next to Harry and handed him a beer. “You wanna go for a smoke?”

Harry nodded, thankful for the rescue, and followed Zayn through the house and out to the back garden.

“Thanks for that,” Harry said once they were alone. Zayn simply held the cigarettes out to Harry in offering and Harry accepted. He didn’t smoke often, but he figured he deserved a cigarette right now. 

Zayn passed him his lighter and they both lit up and stood in silence as they smoked. Zayn didn’t try to engage Harry in conversation, which Harry appreciated. Sometimes he didn’t understand why people couldn’t stand together in silence. It was one of his favorite things about Zayn. He was perfectly comfortable without making small talk and his quiet presence could be almost calming. He could understand why Liam was so into him, especially after spending all of his days with a loud ghost who could read minds.

Harry finished his cigarette and dropped the butt down to the ground and stomped on it with his shoe. Zayn wordlessly offered him another one, but Harry shook his head, content to nurse his beer and venture back inside after several minutes of comfortable silence. 

He steered clear of the kitchen in favor of taking a quick trip to the bathroom and then wondering into the living room where he spotted Shawn, Niall, and Liam. He wordlessly sat down on the couch next to Liam and listened into their conversation. Apparently Niall had run into one of their former teachers at the nursery the other day and they were all reminiscing about their time in school. 

Harry couldn’t help but feeling like Louis should have been there. He would’ve fit into this situation so seamlessly. Harry would have loved to bring him as his date to a party. He would have been delighted to introduce Louis to his friends, to watch Louis work his charm and win everyone over. Harry would be honored to have Louis by his side. 

He could feel his mood souring the longer he thought about it, so he pushed the fantasy to the back of his mind in favor of getting up to make everyone drinks. He was approached by a couple of people and dutifully introduced himself, attempted to remember their names, and made small talk. He came with his own drinking game as he mixed vodka and cranberry juice together in a red solo cup. He planned to take a sip every time someone asked him if he’d ever let them come see Stonecreek.

Before Harry knew it, there were only a handful of people left at the party. Harry was still sitting on the couch next to Liam and Zayn. Niall and Zayn were sharing a joint and Shawn was sipping on a drink, but Harry was waiting until he was sober enough to drive home, as was Liam. 

“Harry, when are you going to host a party at that castle of yours?” Shawn asked. Harry snorted to himself. Too bad he’d stopped drinking about an hour ago. 

Shawn was sitting on the floor in front of an armchair with his back pressed against Niall’s legs. Hailee was perched on the arm of said chair. Harry was tempted to make a comment about how Shawn and Hailee were clearly staying the night, but while he might not be sober enough to drive home, he wasn’t drunk enough to think that was a good idea. 

“Yeah,” Hailee said. “The whole town is dying to see inside that place. You’d think we had an advantage being friends with Niall and Liam here, but they’re super professional and won’t sneak anyone in.”

Harry hesitated. He honestly didn’t know if he was allowed to bring anyone from town into the castle. He figured he should be able to. He was the owner after all. He glanced at Liam, who shook his head imperceptibly. Niall was suddenly very interested in the label on his beer bottle. This was clearly something they all needed to discuss privately before Harry made any decisions.

“It’s not that impressive,” Harry told them. “And I’m not much of a host.”

Both statements were lies, and Shawn and Hailee looked at him with incredulity, clearly not buying either one.

“God,” Hailee laughed. “People are going to start thinking the place is actually haunted if you lot keep being weird about it.”

“Oh, my family swears it  _ is _ haunted,” Shawn chuckled and took a sip of his beer. “Apparently one of my ancestors put a curse on the knight who lived there like hundreds of years ago.” 

“Wait, what?” Harry turned his entire body towards Shawn. Liam tensed beside him, Niall coughed out a ring of smoke, and Zayn’s head snapped up.

Shawn stared at all of them for a second, even briefly twisting around to look up at Niall, taking in everyone’s reaction. “I mean, it’s just a stupid legend in my family.”

“Can we hear it?” Harry asked, subtlety be damned. 

“Harry,” Liam whispered in warning. Harry ignored him.

“Can we hear the legend, Shawn?” he asked again.

Shawn shrugged. “I mean, it’s basically what I just said. The ancestors on my mom’s side of the family were believed to be witches and one of my great great aunts or whatever placed a curse on the knight who lived in Stonecreek castle and his wife back in the 15th century. That’s apparently who haunts the castle. It was an arranged marriage. The knight was secretly gay and his wife was in love with someone else. She had a witch place a curse on the knight and then she killed him so she could be with her lover. Rumor has it she accidentally ended up getting herself cursed too in the process.” 

He stopped talking, but Harry, Liam, Niall, and Zayn all continued to look at him expectantly. Harry assumed they all wanted to hear more as he did. Shawn’s story was the only accurate one Harry had heard since moving to town. There was no way that was a coincidence. 

“That’s it,” Shawn said, raising an eyebrow when everyone just kept staring at him. “Like I said, I don’t know much. My parents think it’s all bogus, but other members of my family really buy into it. A few of my aunts and cousins are Wiccan and witchcraft is still practiced in parts of my family.”

Harry swallowed. Having another connection to Louis’ story felt significant. He didn’t know where to start with this new information, but he did know that they needed to talk with someone in Shawn’s family who knew more about magic and the curse. 

“Do you have contact with anyone in your family who still practices witchcraft?” Niall asked before Harry could. Shawn nodded. 

“Do you think they’d know more about the curse?” Harry wondered.

“What more do you need to know? You have been in the castle before,” Shawn said. “If it was haunted, I think you guys would have realized by now.”

Niall cleared his throat and looked at Harry. He could tell they were on the same page. They needed to see if there was any way Shawn’s family might know more about the curse than Liam’s family or Louis knew already. Liam clearly wasn’t in agreement. He was growing more tense by the minute, his jaw clenched and his body stiff as a board. Zayn put a hand to his shoulder and squeezed, which didn’t seem to help.

“Okay, what’s going on?” Hailee asked. “You’re all being really weird.”

Harry and Niall looked to Liam. Harry would be annoyed about it, but if Liam really didn’t think confiding in Shawn was a good idea, he’d let it go. As much as Harry had grown to care for Louis, Liam was the one who had known him his entire life. He was the one who was raised to help Louis. If he didn’t think this would, Harry would try his best to respect that decision.

“Babe,” Zayn said in encouragement, squeezing Liam’s shoulder again. 

“Fuck it,” Liam muttered. He groaned and gestured towards Harry before putting his head in his hands. “Go ahead.”

Harry didn’t need to be told twice.

“Shawn, hypothetically speaking, if we were to tell you that Stonecreek castle actually is haunted and there is a curse… is there someone in your family we could talk to about that?”

Shawn blinked. “What?”

“Louis is going to kill us,” Liam mumbled as he ran his hands down his face, but Harry noticed the tension slowly release from his body. Whether it was from Zayn’s comforting touch, or from the fact that they didn’t really have much to lose at this point, Harry didn’t know. 

“Yeah, well,” Harry scoffed and rolled his eyes. “He’ll have to stop with the disappearing act first.”

“Not sure that’s how that works, actually.”

“Louis is pulling a disappearing act?” Niall asked, leaning over to pass the joint back to Zayn. “Why?”

“I don’t know,” Liam collapsed back against the couch. “Harry did something to freak him out.”

Harry squawked and punched Liam in the shoulder. “You told me his disappearing was normal!”

“Okay, ow!” Liam rubbed at his shoulder. “He does disappear sometimes but honestly, it’s never for more than a day or two. This is a bit odd for him, but I promise he’s fine. I talked to him a couple of days ago. He told me to make sure you didn’t worry.”

Harry was going to make a remark about how Liam hadn’t done a very good job of that, but Hailee interrupted their conversation.

“Who the hell is Louis?” she asked. 

Right. If they wanted Shawn’s help, they’d need to tell him about Louis. Harry wasn’t sure where to begin. Liam was going to have to take that one.

Liam sighed. “Louis is the gay knight from the 15th century that haunts Stonecreek castle.”

Shawn’s eyes darted from Liam to Harry and up to Niall as he laughed uncomfortably, like he thought they were joking and he was waiting for the punchline. Hailee’s eyes were as round as saucers. 

“Wait,” she said after a moment, gaze zeroing in on Niall. “You’re being serious?”

Niall nodded and suddenly Hailee looked pissed. “You go to work at a fucking haunted castle every day? Are you kidding me?” 

It took Harry a moment to understand that reaction. It wasn’t until Niall put a hand on her knee and began to reassure her that he realized Hailee was worried for Niall’s safety.

“It’s fine,” Niall said. “Louis isn’t a scary ghost. It’s not like in the films.”

“Liam just said he was going to kill you all,” Shawn pointed out.

The conversation reminded Harry of his first night in the castle. He’d been terrified of Louis and Niall and Liam had acted so frustratingly unperturbed. Harry took pity on Shawn and Hailee. It wasn’t that long ago that he’d been worried for his safety around Louis as well. It felt like a lifetime ago now. Louis had wormed his way into Harry’s heart so quickly and efficiently that Harry didn’t even have the chance to stop him. Not that he would have. 

“He’s not going to kill anyone,” Harry said, feeling himself start to smile. “He’s too... good.”

“As you can see,” Niall coughed and gestured to Harry. “Harry fancies him. He wouldn’t fancy an evil ghost, now would he?”

Harry blushed but he didn’t even try to deny it. That would just make this conversation worse.

Despite his words, Niall’s eyes widened at Harry’s reaction. “Wait,” he said. “Harry, do you actually fancy him?”

Liam turned his head to stare at Harry while Zayn barely reacted and stubbed the joint out on the bottom of his shoe. This was not a conversation he wanted to get into right now, especially when Louis was avoiding him.

Harry shrugged and cleared his throat. “Can we just focus on Shawn right now?”

“Holy shit,” Liam murmured. “For real? You-”

“Anyway,” Harry cut him of forcefully, steering the conversation back to Shawn. “Shawn, what do you say? The guy’s been trapped in the castle where he was murdered for five hundred years. I think he deserves some peace, don’t you?”

“I mean, I guess I can try to get in contact with my cousins?” Shawn suggested. He still looked a little shaken and confused, but Harry gave him points for going with it. “I don’t talk with them frequently, but we’re all friends on Facebook.”

“Let’s message ‘em right now!” Niall announced, reaching down to grab Shawn’s phone from where it was resting on Shawn’s thigh. Harry appreciated that he clearly wasn’t interested in wasting any time.

Shawn grabbed his phone back and glared at Niall. “Let me fucking do it.”

“Alright, go ahead,” Niall raised his hands in surrender.

They all watched as Shawn pulled up Facebook and typed in the names of his cousins into a message box. He muttered something about not having talked to them since last Christmas as he typed out a message.

“How’s this?” he asked after a moment, passing the phone to Harry. He’d typed the message out to two girls that Harry assumed were his cousins. 

_ Hi, hope you’re both doing well. This is pretty random, but I was wondering if either of you know anything about the curse on Stonecreek castle. I only know the basic story that Gran likes to tell. I have friends who are interested in breaking it. They’re really eager to hear more from our family so I told them I’d ask. Thanks! _

“I think that sounds good,” Harry nodded and gave the phone to Liam, who read the message aloud with Zayn looking on over his shoulder. Everyone agreed that the message was good enough to send and Shawn did the honors once he was given back his phone. 

“I’ll let you know when I hear back from them,” he said, sliding his phone into his pocket. 

“Thank you so much,” Harry told him. “I really appreciate it.”

“Right,” Niall nodded once. “So I guess now all we do it wait.”

“Yeah,” Harry sighed. He’d never been a very patient guy.

***

He had trouble falling asleep that night, his mind racing with thoughts about Shawn’s family and breaking the curse. Finally setting Louis free. Apparently that was all he needed to think about to get Louis’ attention, because he was sitting on the foot of Harry’s bed when he woke up from his restless sleep early the next morning.

For a brief moment, Harry felt relieved to see him, but the relief was quickly replaced with anger. He was annoyed at how Louis could apparently come and go when it suited him, but refused to give Harry the time of day when he clearly needed to see him. 

“You’re cross with me,” Louis whispered. Harry wondered if he’d pulled that information from his mind, or if he could simply tell by the expression on his face. 

Harry reached over to flip on the lamp on his bedside table and then propped himself up on his pillows and crossed his arms over his chest. There was no use denying it. “Yeah, well. You’ve been avoiding me.”

Louis nodded and looked down at the bed. At least he had the decency to look ashamed. “I’m sorry, love. I thought it might be best for us to have some distance.”

Harry rolled his eyes. He hated how adorable Louis looked when he was pouting, the corners of his mouth turned down into a slight frown. Despite being upset, it still felt good to see him. Harry was beginning to realize that Louis would always be the most beautiful thing in the room and he was always going to want to see him. Even when he was pissed. Especially when he was upset.

“Why would you even think that?” Harry asked. He’d been nearly out of his mind with anxiety, worried that he’d made a fool of himself with Louis that morning, that Louis was just appeasing him out of pity and now couldn’t stand to be around Harry. 

“It seemed like a good idea at the time,” Louis shrugged. “I promised your sister I’d be careful with you. That I wouldn’t hurt you, but I think I might have done that anyway.”

No shit. “I’m a big boy. I can take care of myself. You and Gemma don’t get to decide what will and won’t hurt me.”

Louis sighed. “Well, maybe I realized that being around you too much was going to start hurting me a little bit too.”

Oh. That broke Harry’s heart just a bit. He’d been so anxious and wrapped up in his own feelings that he hadn’t really thought too much about Louis’. Obviously Louis had his own boundaries and Harry needed to respect them. He just wished Louis had communicated that with him instead of disappearing off the face of the earth. 

“Next time you feel like that, can you please just tell me? I was really worried you were upset with me for jacking off in front of you.” Harry hesitated. “ _ Are _ you upset about that?”

“Not in the way you think,” Louis told him. “I’m only upset that it had to be what it was. You deserve more than that.”

Harry was pretty sure he knew what Louis wasn’t saying. He swallowed. “I would have enjoyed what it was even if you were able to touch me. Promise.” 

He couldn’t help thinking it probably would have been hotter knowing Louis  _ could _ touch him and wouldn’t, but it had still been hot all the same. Harry wasn’t about to complain. He was just happy that he’d gotten to spend an intimate moment with Louis at all.

Louis closed his eyes and shook his head. “Harry…” 

He trailed off for a moment and Harry felt a knot starting to form in the pit of his stomach. That tone had been used with him before. He’d used that tone with people before. Harry took a deep breath looked down at his hands. He pushed back one of his cuticles as he waited for the ball to drop. For Louis to tell him this wasn’t going to work. 

“Listen, that isn’t what I wanted to talk to you about,” Louis floated a bit closer to Harry, his voice turning a bit gentler. “I just- I know you think you’re onto something with Shawn’s family. And I want you to promise me you won’t get involved with any of that shit.”

Harry paused, briefly thrown by the subject change. If Louis felt the need to come out of hiding to warn Harry against talking to Shawn’s family, they had to be onto something. He looked up from his hands and met Louis’ eyes.

“I’m sorry. I can’t promise that.”

Louis made a frustrated noise and Harry felt the air around them turn cold. “Jesus, Harry. Magic is dangerous. I don’t need any of you messing around with it, but especially not you.”

“Are you kidding?” Harry really didn’t understand. He knew he hadn’t imagined the distressed look on Louis’ face when he first told him about his death, and the way his eyes turned sad when he thought about his family, who he would only be reunited with once he’d completely passed on. 

“No,” Louis said sternly. “I’m not kidding. Leave it alone.”

“But,” Harry sputtered. “Don’t you want to be free of this place? I just don’t get you why you don’t want anyone to help you!”

Louis threw his hands up in exasperation. “Maybe because the last time someone visited a witch on account of me, I died and they ended up damned to hell!”

Harry took a deep breath and let it out slowly, taking a moment to gather his thoughts. He understood Louis’ concerns, but he thought he was being a tad dramatic.

“Nobody is going to get damned to hell. And we care about you too much to just give up on you that easily, Louis.” 

Louis stared at him for a moment, mouth set in a hard line, before he disappeared again. They lights flickered as he left and Harry groaned.

“Great!” he shouted, knowing that Louis would be listening. “Here we go again.”

At this point, he couldn’t wait to be back in Chicago, where he wouldn’t be self-conscious about Louis hiding himself from Harry and listening into his thoughts. Where he could put his entire focus into work and catching up with friends and family, and hopefully get out of his own head where Louis was concerned. Maybe Louis was right when he said they needed some space from each other. 

Louis didn’t disappear completely, but he did keep his distance over the next week. For a short while, Louis had been the first thing Harry saw when he woke up in the mornings and the last conversation he had before he went to sleep at night. Now, Harry saw him a couple of times throughout the day, and Louis was polite to him, but for some reason this felt worse that his complete absence. 

Maybe it was because Liam was gone on vacation, so when Niall wasn’t at work, Harry found himself alone more often than he’d grown accustomed to. Maybe it was because Harry had become used to being the center of Louis’ attention and he wasn’t anymore. Louis’ distant but polite kindness was unsettling. Whenever he popped by the kitchen to wish Harry a good morning, or passed through the library to inquire about Harry’s day, Harry expected the usual quips about Harry’s green smoothies or taste in books and television shows. But Louis didn’t often deliver.

Despite everything, Harry still couldn’t stop wondering about him. And he hated himself for it, but he thought about their morning together as he got himself off in the shower one morning. He remembered Louis’ voice echoing in his head when he was his most overwhelmed, the way his eyes focused on Harry and how stern he sounded when he had Harry edge himself.

He rested his forehead against the tile of the shower and watched as the water washed his come down the drain, and wondered what Louis would say about those kind of thoughts if things were back to normal between them. If he was even listening in on Harry’s thoughts at all anymore.

_ I’d say that the way you think about me scares me. _

Harry gasped and put his hands out in front of him before he slipped and fell down onto the floor. Louis’ voice ran through his mind again, this time sounding slightly amused.

_ Don’t hurt yourself, love. _

Harry huffed.  _ Stop listening to me. You aren’t allowed to do that if we aren’t speaking _ .

_ I spoke to you every day this week. _

Harry shut the water off and grabbed his towel.  _ Not the way you used to. Just… get out of my head for a bit, okay?  _

_ Okay.  _ He sounded sad now, maybe a bit nervous, like he thought he’d crossed a line and Harry was upset with him. 

_ I do want to talk to you, though.  _ Harry assured him _. Just not like this. I’ll meet you in the library after I get dressed? _

Louis’ hum of agreement echoed in what felt like the entire bathroom, and then Harry’s mind was quiet. He hummed the newest Post Malone song that unlike Louis, refused to get out of his head, as he dried off, brushed his teeth, and pulled on a pair of sweats and a hoodie.

He passed through the kitchen on his way to the library, grabbing a banana from the bowl on the counter, and peeled it as he entered the room. Louis was over by the window, and Harry was hit with the memory of his first morning at Stonecreek. If only past him could see where he’d ended up as far as Louis was concerned. 

They stared at each other for a moment, neither saying anything, and Harry took a bite of his banana to buy himself some time.

“I’m sorry,” Louis spoke first. “For disappearing and then being distant this past week.”

“Thanks,” Harry said, taking a seat at the couch. “I’m sorry too. For going behind your back with the curse stuff.”

“I guess I know that you mean well,” Louis admitted, floating over to sit in the chair facing Harry. “You’re not going to stop, are you? No matter what I say.”

Harry folded his empty banana peel and placed it on the coaster on the side table, making a mental note to take it to the trash in the kitchen later. “Not yet.”

“If anyone gets hurt I’m going to be livid.”

“If we succeed, you’ll be gone. I don’t think you’ll care anymore.”

Louis just looked at him and Harry could tell he wasn’t impressed with that argument.

“Harry,” he said, breaking their staring contest after a few moments. “Did you ever think that maybe I’m not ready to leave yet?”

Harry’s breath caught in his throat. “Wh- what?”

“Passing on kind of terrifies me. I’ve been… this,” Louis gestured to his form. “For practically my entire existence. I don’t know what moving on from this means.”

“None of us do, Lou,” Harry said. “But we’ve all got to do it at some point.”

“Yeah,” Louis said softly, his gaze turning unfocussed for a moment. Harry wondered what he was thinking about. “I know. But this feels safe to me. And as much as I always thought that all I wanted was to be reunited with my family again… if that is even what happens… I’ve grown attached to you and Niall and Liam as well. I actually really worry about Liam without me here. I’ve been his best friend his entire life.”

Harry felt his fondness for Louis double. He wasn’t sure he’d ever be able to understand how Louis still managed to be so selfless after everything that had happened to him. It only continued to assure him that he was doing the right thing by trying to help him. He wasn’t so sure that Louis would try to help himself at this point.

“Zayn will take care of Liam,” Harry assured Louis. “Niall and I will, too.”

Louis smiled, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes, and remained silent. Harry didn’t know where to go from here, so he brought up something else he’d wanted to talk about.

“You said earlier that my thoughts scare you?”

Louis paused for a moment. “More like your feelings for me.”

“Why?”

“Nobody has ever thought about me like that before. And your feelings are… intense. They came about so quickly. And I know I can’t fully be what you want or need. You deserve more, but the way things have been going- I know you’re mind. I know you’d be willing to settle for this if it turned into something more. And that scares and worries me. It’s why I was trying to give you space. ”

If Harry really thought about it, he’d have to admit to himself that part of the reason why he wanted Louis to pass on was because he knew he’d grow too attached if he stayed around for much longer. Sure, he had wanted to help Louis pass on from the beginning, before he really knew him. And to know how kind his soul was only motivated Harry even more to do the right thing. But a small part of him was being selfish with this, because he knew that Louis was right. He didn’t love him. Not like that. Not yet. But it wouldn’t be too long before he would be willing to settle for Louis as he was now and he knew that would only end up hurting them both.

“I guess it’s a good thing I’m going back to Chicago for a bit then,” Harry said. “If you want some space.”

“I didn’t say that,” Louis said, his tone slightly scolding. “I didn’t want to do that. I could probably spend pretty much every one of your waking moments with you and be perfectly content. But that’s kind of the problem. So I think you’re right. It’s good that you’re going to Chicago for a bit.”

Harry nodded and drew his knees up to his chest. “This sort of feels like a break up.”

“Ah,” Louis hummed. “Is this what those feel like? Don’t think I care much for them.”

He reached his hand out like he wanted to touch Harry, maybe give his knee a comforting pat, before he remembered himself and snatched his hand back. Somehow, that hurt more than everything else. 

“Best break up I’ve gone through, to be honest,” Harry said, choosing to ignore Louis’ movement. “You’re being so nice about it. Please go back to ignoring me so I can stay angry at you.”

Louis laughed, real and genuine. The first laugh of the kind that Harry had heard in a couple of weeks. “I might actually go back to ignoring you if you don’t start packing.”

“Noooo,” Harry pushed his bottom lip out into an exaggerated pout and Louis giggled. Harry’s cheeks warmed. They’d be okay.

Louis did have a point though. Harry had procrastinated packing all week, and now he needed to do about twelve loads of laundry and get everything in order by the end of the night. He had to leave early in the morning for his flight. He left Louis in the library around mid morning to get to work, and sent Niall a quick text. He’d really been hoping they’d hear something from Shawn before he left.

Niall texted back as Harry was folding his laundry a couple of house later and sorting his clothes into piles - to pack and not to pack. Harry pressed his thumb to his phone to open it and read the text message as he folded a pair of socks.

_ Fucking weird timing, mate. Just heard from Shawnie. Sending pics to you and Liam now. _

Harry tossed the socks to the side and sat down on the bed to wait. About a minute later, his phone buzzed several times in quick succession and he pulled up the new text to see that Niall had sent him and Liam a bunch of screenshots of Shawn’s message thread with his cousins. He turned up the brightness on his phone and took a deep breath as he opened the first picture. The first message was time stamped from five days ago and as he began reading, he wondered why the hell it had taken Shawn so long to send these along.

**Celine** : shawn! are you finally taking an interest in witchcraft?!! lol what would your mum say

**Celeste** : The curse had to be broken by a Styles male, so you should probably tell your friends it’s not worth looking into anymore.

**Shawn** : …what if one of my friends is a Styles male?

**Celeste** : Seriously? I thought they all died out recently. 

**Shawn** : Nope. They found Des Styles’ long lost son in America. His name’s Harry. 

**Celine** : and he wants to break the curse!!!??

**Shawn** : Yeah. Pretty badly.

**Celeste** : We’ll look into it. 

**Shawn** : Thanks! Let me know what you find out.

The next series of messages were from two days later. 

**Celine** : do you know why exactly Harry wants to break the curse? 

**Shawn** : I think he cares about the ghost believe it or not. He said Louis (the ghost) “deserves some peace”

**Celine** : interesting. we talked to mum and aunt tara and it sounds like there are some pretty intense layers to this thing. at least from what we can all tell from the passed down info

**Celine** : so harry’s intent doesn’t seem selfish or anything?

**Shawn** : Not from what I can tell. He’s a good guy.

**Celine** : ok that’s good

She didn’t say anything else until Shawn messaged her to follow up that morning.

**Shawn** : Find anything out yet?

**Celine** : I’m sorry, we can’t help your friends.

**Shawn** : What do you mean??

**Celeste** : Unfortunately, breaking the curse involves some sacrificial magic that we’re not willing to perform. 

**Celine** : tell your friends we’re really sorry shawn

Harry’s phone buzzed as he was reading the last message and he closed out of the screenshot to see texts from Liam and Niall.

**Liam** : Probably for the best. Sounds dangerous. I figured it would be something like that.. Still sucks tho

**Niall** : Yeah : (

Harry wanted to scream in frustration and he could feel tears starting to form at the inner corners of his eyes. He felt foolish for having been so hopeful and he simultaneously couldn’t believe Liam and Niall were willing to give up so easily. Louis, more than likely sensing Harry’s distress, immediately glided into the room through Harry’s open bedroom door.

“What’s wrong?” he asked Harry, his eyebrows drawn together in worry.

Harry sniffed and wiped at his eyes. “I’m sure you already know.”

“You told me to stop listening to you. I just got a wave of emotion from you that I couldn’t control, but other than that I’ve been blocking you out today like you asked.”

Harry sighed. He really didn’t want to tell Louis this news. Despite their conversation this morning, he had no idea what his reaction would be, if he would be happy because he’d never wanted them to get involved in the first place, or if a small part of himself still had hope that was about to be crushed.

“The thing with Shawn’s cousins fell through. They can’t help you.”

Louis didn’t look the least bit surprised. He barely had any reaction at all, simply shrugging. “It’s alright, Harry.”

“I’m really sorry, Louis,” Harry said. “I thought we were onto something.”

“I kind of did too,” Louis admitted. “That’s why I was so worried about you all. But I also accepted a long time ago that I’m a lost cause. You all need to stop worrying about me. You keep thinking about wanting to give me peace, but I’ve already made my peace with it. I’ll be perfectly fine here for the rest of forever if that’s what is meant to be. ”

Harry scoffed. He wasn’t surprised to hear it after this morning, but that didn’t mean he liked it. “Well, I still think that’s bullshit.”

“Maybe it is,” Louis allowed patiently. “But putting your life in danger to try to help someone who is already dead is also bullshit.”

“Jesus Christ,” Harry rolled his eyes. “Nobody was going to put their life in danger.” He was so tired of that argument. 

“I’m sure that’s what Isabel thought too,” Louis countered. 

Harry really didn’t want to fight about this again, not when they’d settled everything already this morning. “I thought we were done talking about this. This is my last day here for a long time. I don’t want to spend it arguing with you.”

Louis raised and eyebrow. “Do you want to spend it with me at all? I thought we broke up.”

“Don’t be stupid,” Harry grinned. “There’s nothing I want more than for you to watch me fold laundry and keep my company.”

“Well then, Harold,” Louis drifted over to hover above Harry’s bed. “Get to work.”

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> alsdkfjasd this update is so fucking late and i'm so sorry. the plot took a tiny unexpected turn and i had to rework some things (and add one more chapter than originally planned). thanks for hanging in there and leaving your lovely comments and kudos!
> 
> feel free to come talk to me on tumblr: @littlelouishiccups


	5. Autumn

Harry had been back in Chicago for almost a month when he got a text from Niall. That wasn’t unusual. Harry talked to both Niall and Liam a couple of times a week. They were still technically his employees, even though Harry felt weird thinking of them that way sometimes, when they still both knew more about Stonecreek than he did. It was a bit abnormal to hear from one of them on a Friday morning though. Niall didn’t always work on Fridays and Harry was used to hearing from Liam at the beginning of the week, unless Louis made him send Harry the occasional text on his behalf. 

He was jogging when the text came through, and he slowed to a stop when he saw that Niall had sent another screenshot from Shawn’s facebook messages, but this time he sent it just to Harry rather than in a group text with Liam. The screenshot was a new conversation, between only Shawn and Celine. Harry noted that the conversation had taken place less than an hour ago.

**Celine** : soooo celeste is way over the stonecreek curse thing but i’ve still been looking into it and I think I can help if your friends still want to do this. any chance i can talk to Harry?

**Shawn** : Wait, really??

**Celine** : i hope so. you said he cares for louis, right?

**Shawn** : My friend says they fancy each other.

**Celine** : i think i can work with that

Niall had also texted him Celine’s phone number with the caption  _ Let me know if you need my help with anything  _ .  _ Hope you’re doing good. We miss ya ! _

Harry’s heart, which was already thudding from his jog, seemed to speed up even more. Something twisted in his stomach.

He’d be lying if he said he hadn’t looked more into the curse since he’d been home. It was actually somewhat easier, being able to research in the privacy of his own home (Gemma’s apartment) without worrying about Louis eavesdropping and throwing a fit. A fat lot of good researching on his own did for him though. He’d found next to nothing.

Harry wasn’t at the point on the jogging trail where he usually turned around to head back to his car, but he turned around anyway. The sooner he got back home, the sooner he could give Celine a call. He had just pocketed his phone and was picking up his pace again when he glanced up and spotted Joel jogging towards him a little ways down the trail. Harry nearly stopped in his tracks again.

He shouldn’t have been surprised to see him. It was actually probably strange that they hadn’t run into each other before now. They’d met for the first time on this trail and used to jog it together most mornings when they were dating. Joel hadn’t seen Harry yet, and Harry prayed they’d be able to pass each other without him noticing. He wasn’t in the mood for awkward small talk.

It was weird to think about how Harry used to consider himself in love with the guy. He got over Joel way more quickly than he thought he would and he honestly hadn’t thought about him too much in the past couple of months. Harry ran his eyes up and down Joel’s body, doing a quick catalogue to see how he was doing. When his eyes finally reached his face, Joel was looking at him. Shit. They’d made eye contact.

Harry didn’t know what he expected Joel to do, but he slowed down a bit before smiling and giving Harry a small wave. Great. Harry couldn’t ignore him now.

They both slowed to a stop when their paths would have crossed.

“Hey,” Joel said, breathless from running.

“Hi,” Harry said, just as breathless. He rested his hands on his hips as he tried to catch his breath.

“I kind of wondered if I’d run into you sooner or later,” Joel told him, running a hand through his hair like he always did when he was slightly self conscious. “I actually saw you out here on Tuesday, but you had headphones in and were too far away.”

Harry nodded, unsure what to say to that. Maybe he should find a different place to run. 

He settled for, “How’ve you been?”

Joel sniffed. His cheeks were flushed and his forehead was sweaty. Harry was sure he looked similar. 

“I’ve been okay,” Joel said. “What about you? I ran into Mitch at a party a little while back. He told me you took a trip to Europe and then ended up staying there for a bit?”

“Yeah,” Harry said, wondering if Joel had asked about him, or if Harry’s friends were just willingly offering up information about him to his ex-boyfriends. “I’m kind of alternating between here and England right now.”

“Oh, so you’re going back?” Joel seemed surprised.

“Yeah, I’ve got a place there.” That was an understatement, but Joel didn’t need to know the details of Harry’s life anymore.

Joell nodded and Harry stared at him for a moment without saying anything. Truthfully, he didn’t have anything else to say. He was trying to think of a nice way to end the conversation so he could go home and call Shawn’s cousin when Joel started talking again.

“Listen,” he said with a sigh. “I’m really sorry. I know you don’t want to be talking to me, and next time we run into each other like this, nobody has to stop. I just want you to know that I am really sorry for how everything ended. I shouldn’t have treated you like that.”

Harry swallowed. “Thanks. I appreciate that.”

“So, what made you decide to stay?” A grin spread onto Joel’s face and he wiggled his eyebrows. “In England. You meet someone?”

Harry could not believe this conversation was happening. He supposed that was the gist of it though. When it came down to it, Harry wasn’t sure he would have stayed at Stonecreek if it wasn’t for Louis.

“Um. Yeah.” He found himself smiling. “Louis.”

“Good for you,” Joel winked. “He’s a lucky guy.”

Harry blushed. Talking about Louis always made him blush. He was sure that he was supposed to ask Joel a follow up question, inquire about his life in return, but he didn’t really care much. He was glad that Joel seemed to be doing well, but that was as far as his concern went. Joel seemed to pick up on that.

“Well, it was good to see you, H,” he said, starting to walk backwards. “Take care.”

“Thanks,” Harry smiled. “You too.”

Joel waved at him as he turned around and sped his pace back up to a run. Harry watched him for a moment before he turned the other way and did the same. 

When he made it to his car, he texted Niall back, thanking him for the information and letting him know he planned to call Celine in a bit. Niall responded by the time he pulled his car into the garage of Gemma’s apartment building, telling Harry to let him know if he needed his help with anything.

Harry forced himself to wait until after he’d showered and changed clothes for work before dialing the number. He took a deep breath and paced the length of the living room while he waited for an answer.

“Hello?” Her voice was light and breathy, almost musical. 

Harry stopped in his tracks and swallowed. “Hi, is this Celine?”

“Yes, it is.”

“Um... hi,” he ran a hand through his damp hair. “This is Harry Styles.”

“Shawn’s friend?!” she asked excitedly. 

“Yes,” he confirmed, and then because he didn’t know what else to say and he was nothing if not polite. “How are you?”

“I’m doing well, thank you,” she said, sounding as sincere as could be. “I’m so happy you called. I’ve been researching your curse. It’s all rather fascinating.”

“It’s Louis’ curse,” Harry replied, taking a seat on the couch. “I’m just interested in breaking it.”

“Right,” Celine hummed. “Yes. Well, I’m glad you’ve reached out. I’ve never done any real curse breaking before so I’m really excited.”

Harry wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not. Surely the more experience the witch had the better they were? Then again, he didn’t have any other options. 

“Oh,” he said. “Well, I’m… glad I can help with that.”

Celine giggled. “Shawn said you’re back in the States for a bit?”

“I am, yeah,” Harry confirmed. Gemma’s cat hopped up onto the couch next to him and batted at his leg with her paw. 

Celine made a speculative noise. “When is your next trip to the UK?”

Harry winced, absentmindedly stroking the cat. “I wasn’t planning on coming back for a few more weeks. Do you need me there?”

“I’m honestly not sure,” Celine admitted. “I think it might be easiest, but I can do more research in the meantime.”

He considered for a moment. It wasn’t like he didn’t have the means to make an extra trip. He also knew he wouldn’t be able to focus on anything here while he waited until after the Thanksgiving to make the trip back. His family wouldn’t be happy, but Nick would understand. 

“I can look at flights,” said Harry. “When is a good time for you?”

“I’m flexible.”

\---

Nick was in his office, blasting Ariana Grande through the speakers on his computer when Harry got to work later that morning. He glanced up from his sketches when Harry neared his desk and looked at him expectantly when Harry began to pace. 

“Am I crazy?” Harry asked him.

“What’s the context?” Nick wondered, resting his chin on his hand. “For wearing those pants with those shoes? Maybe.”

Harry rolled his eyes. “Not what I meant. And don’t be a dick. I like this outfit.”

He was wearing white trousers with his favorite pair of yellow loafers. Niall had helpfully informed Harry that he dressed like his grandma when he first saw them, but Harry didn’t consider that a bad thing. Louis said he looked cute.

“And that’s all that matters,” Nick said, tone slightly condescending. “Anyway, what’s up, then? Your pacing is making me anxious.”

Harry stopped his pacing. “I just booked a ticket to London.”

“You go to London all the time,” Nick turned back to his work. 

“I’m taking a trip to London to meet up with a witch who thinks she can break Louis’ curse,” Harry clarified, taking a seat in one of the chairs facing Nick’s desk.

“Ah,” Nick smiled and looked up again. “Yeah, maybe that’s a bit crazy. Gemma’s going to be so pissed if you end up possessed or some shit.”

Harry made a face. “I’m not going to get possessed.”

“Well, if you do I expect to be invited to your exorcism.”

“Of course. Wouldn’t dream of doing it without you.”

They both looked at each other and dissolved into giggles. Harry had realized upon his return to Chicago a few weeks ago that he really missed his life here. He worked as much as he could when he was in England, but he missed his office, seeing spaces in person, and meeting with clients. He surprisingly missed the hustle and anonymity of city life. More importantly, he missed his friends and his family.   


On the flipside, when he was home, he missed England. He missed Liam’s cooking and the long talks they often had over breakfast. He missed Niall’s laughter and sense of humor. 

He missed Louis so much he felt it on a physical level. Missing Louis was like a punch to the stomach mixed with a constant ache in his chest. Harry didn’t know how he was going to cope once Louis was gone forever, assuming that he and Celine were successful. He tried not to dwell on that too much. 

“Seriously though,” Nick said after a moment. “I don’t think you’re crazy. I know how important this is to you. Let me know if you need my help with anything.” 

“Thanks, Nick,” Harry said with a sigh. It felt nice to have someone’s support aside from Niall and Liam’s.

Nick winked. “So when do you leave?”

“Day after tomorrow.”

“Need a ride to the airport?”

“That’d be great,” Harry said with a nod. 

“Alright, Romeo,” Nick turned back to his work. “Leave me alone now.”

Harry smiled and ventured into this own office. He threw himself into work over the next couple of days, trying to get as much done before his unexpected trip as possible. His mom wasn’t entirely pleased with the new change in plans when he told her about them the night before his flight. Harry hadn’t told her much about Louis. She knew Louis existed, but she didn’t know about the whole… him being a ghost thing. As far as she knew, Louis was simply a friend Harry met in England. 

“I just have to check on some things at Stonecreek,” Harry told her for the third time. They were on facetime while he finished packing.

“Don’t you have people who do that for you?” Anne asked. “Isn’t that your friend Liam’s job?”

Harry sighed. “Mom, I wouldn’t be going if it wasn’t important. I promise I’ll be back by Thanksgiving, if not sooner.”

They continued to argue for a few more minutes before hanging up with Anne muttering under her breath about Harry still being as stubborn as he was as a child.

Harry rolled his eyes fondly, closed out of the facetime app, and pulled up his group text with Liam and Niall.

**Harry** : Just an FYI, I’m headed to London tomorrow to work on curse stuff with Celine. Depending on how things go, I might stop by Stonecreek for a few days. 

**Liam** : We’d love to see you :) Let us know how it goes and if you need any help 

**Harry** : Thanks, I will. Also, I’d prefer if you didn’t tell Louis about any of this. You know how he gets. 

**Niall** : Duh

Harry tossed his phone onto his bed and took a deep breath before he got back to packing. If he thought about it long enough, he felt guilty about doing all of this behind Louis’ back. Even though he guessed he wasn’t really  _ technically _ doing anything all that surprising. Louis knew Harry would try to help him if the opportunity presented itself, he just didn’t know that the opportunity actually had ended up presenting itself.

When he finished packing, he joined Gemma and Michal in the living room where they were watching an episode of  _ Chopped _ , a large bowl of popcorn sitting between them on the couch. Harry reached over the back of the couch and grabbed a handful of popcorn as he passed them.

“So, does mom feel about you getting possessed?” Gemma asked, turning the volume down a few notches.

Harry munched on the popcorn and sat down in the armchair next to the couch, tucking his feet underneath him.

“You should get in touch with Nick,” he said instead of answering her question. “He’s already planning my exorcism.”

“Not funny,” Gemma glared while Michal choked on the handful of popcorn he’d just shoved into in his mouth.

“It was kind of funny,” Michal told Gemma after he swallowed, still coughing a bit.

“Attractive,” Gemma told him.

Harry smiled at them and turned his attention to the TV. Louis used to make fun of him for watching cooking shows. Harry secretly thought he was just jealous because he couldn’t eat, so he didn’t like seeing all of the food. Then he usually got scolded for thinking about stuff like that. 

He frowned to himself when he realized he was thinking about Louis again. He couldn’t help himself. He wondered what Louis was doing right now, if he was currently giving Liam a hard time or keeping to himself, if he missed Harry just as much as Harry missed him. If he’d be angry at Harry for pursuing the curse, or if he’d given up fighting that fight by now.

\-----

Harry texted Celine as soon as he landed in England the next day and took a cab to her flat straight from the airport. It felt weird flying into London and not immediately making the trip to Stonecreek. He didn’t have plans to go to Stonecreek at all on this trip unless something unexpected happened. If he thought about it too hard, he felt wrong for being on the same continent and not making an effort to go see Louis. He supposed this was something he was going to have to get used to anyway. Coming to England and not seeing Louis.

He hoped he wasn’t making a mistake when he knocked on Celine’s door. He adjusted the strap of his bag and shuffled his feet while he waited for someone to answer. It only took a few moments before he heard someone messing with the locks and the door swung open.

“Harry?” Celine asked, voice a bit higher than it had sounded over the phone, and a glint of excitement in her dark brown eyes.

Harry had been picturing a Luna Lovegood look alike, but he couldn’t have been further off. Celine was tall and willowy, her black hair cut short and choppy. She was wearing a pair of ripped blue jeans and a simple white t-shirt, her face free of make up. 

He nodded in confirmation and held his hand out for her to shake. “It’s lovely to meet you.”

“Yes! Please come in,” Celine beamed, ushering Harry inside. “Do you just mind taking your shoes off, please?”

“Of course,” Harry nodded and slipped out of his shoes, lining them up next to the shoes under the entryway table, which was decorated with a silver tray where Celine obviously left her keys and other bits and bobs, and a small bowl filled with black crystals. The air smelled faintly of lavender and there was music playing softly from deeper inside the flat.

Celine led him to the living room, where a fire crackled in the corner fireplace and Great British Bake-Off was paused on the TV. Harry wasn’t sure what he expected, but the decor and the flat’s vibes all seemed fairly normal. There were more crystals and plants in the flat than others he’d been in, but he’d never guess he was in a witch’s apartment otherwise. 

“Have a seat,” Celine gestured to the plush couch. “Would you like anything to drink?”

  
Harry was about to say that he’d love a glass of water --he was dehydrated from his flight-- when another girl poked her head out from the small kitchenette. She looked around the same age as Celine, maybe a bit older. Her hair was just as dark, but fell all the way down her back in long waves. She was a bit more of what Harry had expected and Harry would bet money that she was the other sister, Celeste. The one who didn’t want to help him.

“Who’s this?” the girl asked Celine, pointing to Harry and tilting her head in curiosity. 

“This is Harry Styles,” Celine introduced him and Harry lifted his hand in an awkward wave. “Harry, this is my sister, Celeste.”

Celeste gave Celine an unimpressed look. “Celine, I thought we weren’t going to mess with this.”

Celine rolled her eyes and collapsed back onto the armchair perpendicular to Harry’s couch.

“Last I checked, I didn’t ask you to mess with it.”

“As if I’m going to just let you play around with dark magic by yourself,” Celeste walked over and sat on the couch next to Harry. “For fuck’s sake, Celine.”

Harry shifted uncomfortably and nearly reached into his pocket for his phone so he could direct his focus… anywhere else. He had a feeling he was about to witness an argument that he didn’t really want to witness. Celine had neglected to mention that she  _ lived _ with the sister who didn’t want to help him. He didn’t understand why they’d met here of all places, if she knew Celeste was going to start a fight about his being here.

“I’m not going to ‘play around’ with anything,” Celine insisted as Harry very pointedly scrolled through Instagram. “If we can’t break this curse without dark magic then we aren’t very good witches.” 

Celeste scoffed and Celine continued. “Plus, I think Auntie Mathilde was a bit dramatic about the whole thing back in the day. I finally made contact with her yesterday and I think this is going to be simpler and safer than expected.”

“Wait,” Harry looked up from his phone, not sure he’d heard correctly. He knew from the previous conversations he’d had with Celine throughout the week that Mathilde was the witch who put the curse on Louis. “Did you say you made contact with your dead ancestor?” 

Celine raised an eyebrow as if she didn’t understand why Harry was asking. “Yes?”

“Sorry,” Harry apologized. “Just kind of... strange to hear someone say that they talked to a dead person so casually.”

Celeste stared at him. “You’re in love with a ghost.”

Harry guessed she had a point. “Right,” he swallowed. “Well look, I don’t want to cause any trouble. I’m just here to help Louis, but he’d find a way to come back and kill me if he knew I put myself in serious danger.”

“Nobody is going to put themselves in serious danger,” Celine assured him before making eye contact with her sister. “I promise.”

Celeste gave her sister a look that must have communicated something, because Celine gave her a returning look that Harry couldn’t read, but then after a moment, Celeste sighed. Harry let out a small breath of relief. 

“Fine,” Celeste said. “Let me go finish my tea and then we can get started.” She stood up. “Harry, would you like anything?”

“Just some water would be great, thanks,” Harry said with his brightest smile.

Celine winked at Harry after Celeste turned the corner to the kitchen again. “I knew she’d be easy to convince once you were here. She’s secretly a huge softie.”

Harry raised an eyebrow. “Well, whatever the reason, I’m really grateful to you both.”

“Of course,” Celine smiled as she brought her legs up underneath her. “I’m happy to do it. Celeste is too, even though she hasn’t admitted it yet.”

Celeste hummed in a way that did not at all sound like she was happy to do it when she came back into the room with her mug of tea and a glass of water for Harry.

“So fill us in,” she said, taking her seat next to Harry again. “How are we breaking Harry’s curse?”

“Louis’ curse,” Harry corrected. Celeste hummed as she slurped at her tea. She and Celine made eye contact again. Celeste tilted her head questioningly again and Celine shrugged. Harry was starting to seriously wonder if they were telepathic.

“Harry,” Celine said after another moment. “It’s not only Louis’ curse.”

Harry frowned in confusion, wondering what the hell Celine was talking about, before he remembered Isabel’s role in all of this.

“Yeah, I know,” Harry allowed. “Louis told me that Isabel was cursed too.”

“I’m not talking about Isabel.” Celine said gently.

“Oh,” Harry said, then figured he should probably explain. “Well, Louis thinks she was cursed too. He harassed her while she was alive and now he thinks she’s even worse off. All part of the curse.”

“No,” Celine shook her head. “I meant… she isn’t the  _ only _ one who was cursed in addition to Louis. John Styles was cursed too, for participating in Isabel’s scheme and murdering Louis. And I believe the curse was passed on to Isabel and John’s descendants in one way or another.”

“Wh-what do you mean?” Harry asked.

Celeste stared at him like she thought he was extremely stupid and Celine hesitated, a crease forming on her forehead. Harry played over her words again in his head and suddenly felt sick to his stomach.

He swallowed. “Are you saying I’m cursed too?”

“You think it’s a coincidence that you’ve fallen in love with someone you can never really have? The same with your father? And I’m willing to guess more of the relatives on your paternal side.”

Harry frowned. He didn’t really know the details of his parents’ divorce. He’d been young at the time, and his mom always simply said things just didn’t work out between her and his father. Maybe it was time he asked about that a bit more, because he had to admit that Celine’s theory made sense. Most of his father’s side of the family was divorced or widowed. He never thought about how strange that was until right now. 

“Okay, so how do we fix it, then?” Harry asked. “You still haven’t told me how we’re going to break the curse. Or are you telling me that I can’t since I’m involved?”

“Not at all,” Celine shook her head. “You’re a vital part of breaking it. I also don’t think it’s a coincidence that the only Styles who has ever really sought help to help Louis is  _ you _ , specifically.”

Celeste gasped suddenly, drawing Harry and Celine’s attention to her. She looked at Celine with wide eyes and placed her tea onto the coffee table.

“She knew, didn’t she?” Celeste asked Celine. “About Harry.”

Celine nodded and shrugged at the same time. “Yeah, I think she did. She also didn’t seem all that surprised to hear from me.”

“Well, she wouldn’t be, would she?”

“Exactly.”

“Okay, what the hell are you two saying?” Harry asked.   


Celeste clasped her hands together and placed them in her lap “A few people in our family think Mathilde was a seer.”

“A  _ seer? _ ” Harry asked. “Like... Professor Trewlaney in Harry Potter?”

Both girls looked offended that Harry would even suggest that, but they nodded anyway.

“I guess,” Celeste said, rolling her eyes. “Hopefully she was more talented than  _ that _ .”

Harry nodded as he considered this new information. If Mathilde could see the future, or had some kind of premonition about this, then maybe… hopefully that meant they were going to be successful.

“So… you think she-”

“Saw you coming,” Celine said with a nod. “Yes. Although I don’t think she knew it would take quite this long.”

This was a lot to take in. Knowing that Harry was a vital part in breaking the curse, that he was almost destined to break it, that he was cursed as part of all of this as well, was not what he’d expected to learn today.

Harry took a deep breath. “Okay. So what do I need to do?”

“Well first,” Celine started. “I think you need to give up Stonecreek. No matter what we do, Louis is trapped as long as a Styles owns the property.”

Given what he knew about the curse so far, that made sense and he wasn’t sure that he’d be able to step foot in the castle again anyway. Not if Louis wasn’t there, when Harry had memories of him in every room.

“Was it really this easy the whole time?” he asked, laughing in disbelief. “My family just had to give up Stonecreek?”

“No, I don’t think so,” Celine assured him. “It had to be you. You’re the only one who would consider it a huge sacrifice. If anyone else in your family had given up Stonecreek, it wouldn’t have worked.”

Harry swallowed and nodded, fighting back the tears that started to form in his eyes when he thought about the implications of that. He was the only Styles who had truly fallen in love with Stonecreek, with Louis, and who would find giving both of them up absolutely devastating. Louis and Liam had been correct in their theories about what would break the curse. Louis thought it had to be a sacrifice. Liam thought it could be an act of love. It turned out to be both.

He pressed the heels of his hands to his eyes, trying to will away his tears, and took a deep breath. “Is that it? I just have to arrange for someone else to own Stonecreek?” He already had somebody in mind, but that seemed too simple.

“We need to do some spellwork on our end,” Celine gestured between Celeste and herself. “And we will need a bit of your help with that, but ultimately, yes. That’s mainly what you need to do.”

Harry cleared his throat. “I guess I need to make a call then.” He took his phone out of his back pocket. “Is there somewhere I should step out?”

“Don’t worry about that,” Celine shook her head. “You stay here and we’ll go. Make yourself at home, really.”

She and Celeste both stood up and returned to the kitchen. Harry sat and stared at the coffee table for a minute before deciding the best way to go about this was to tear off the bandaid. He searched for Jeff Azoff’s contact and brought his phone slowly up to his ear, clenching the fist of his free hand while he counted the rings.

“This is Azoff,” Jeff said when he answered the phone.

“Hi, this is Harry Styles,” Harry said, impressed with the way he kept his voice from shaking. “Sorry to call you on a Saturday.”

“That’s alright,” Jeff said. “If memory serves, I’ve called you on the weekend before. How can I help you?”

“Right,” Harry said. “Well, I’m calling about my property and inheritance.”

“Oh?”

“I want to give up my ownership of Stonecreek and my inheritance money,” Harry explained. 

“Oh,”

“Yeah,”

“Did something happen? This is all rather unexpected.”

Harry didn’t need or want to go into the details of why he was making this decision with his lawyer. He just wanted to get this over with. 

“Is it doable?” Harry asked instead of answering Jeff’s question.

“I suppose to,” Jeff admitted. “I’ll talk to Mr. Payne, but there is the possibility of an auction, which we were considering before finding you.”

“I’d actually like to transfer ownership to Liam,” said Harry. “If possible.”

He didn’t like the idea of Stonecreek going to just anyone. There was too much history and too many memories there. He couldn’t help but feeling that selling the castle to some random person would be doing a great disservice to Louis and his family. Besides, Harry was certain that Louis would want Liam to have it. Liam had more or less grown up there. It was his home and Harry, who had only owned the castle for half a year, didn’t have the right to just give it away to the highest bidder. Not that he’d ever want to do that anyway.

Jeff hummed in consideration. “I don’t see why it wouldn’t be possible. Have you discussed this with Mr. Payne?”

“Not yet,” Harry admitted. He figured Liam would understand if he explained everything. If not, Harry could be pretty persuasive. 

“Well, he needs to be in agreement,” Jeff said. “Before we move forward.”

“I don’t think he will take much convincing.” Harry hoped not anyway. “I’ll talk to him.”

“Okay,” said Jeff. “Well, it’ll take make me a couple of days to finalize the paperwork. Are you currently in the UK or the States? Do I need to send it over via Docusign?”

“I’m in London until this is finished,” Harry informed him. “I can come meet with you in person.”

“Perfect,” Jeff said. “I’ll follow up with you on Monday or Tuesday when I’m back in the office and have a chance to look over everything.”

“Than you so much,” Harry said and they hung up shortly after. 

Celine and Celeste, who had obviously be listening into his conversation in the kitchen, joined him in the living room again almost immediately. 

“So,” he looked at them expectantly. “What next?”

\---

Harry called Liam that evening, after an afternoon of strategizing with Celine and Celeste, checking in to his hotel room, and taking a long, hot shower. It was Saturday evening so he was banking on Liam being at Zayn’s instead of at Stonecreek. Harry didn’t really want Louis listening in on this conversation. And he thought it would be good for Liam to have someone to lean on after the call ended.   


“Hello!” Liam answered the phone cheerfully. 

Harry found himself smiling. He put the phone on speaker while he rubbed lotion into his skin and toweled his hair dry.

“Hey Liam. How are you?”

“I’m good,” Liam replied. “Just sitting here with Zayn. We were about to start a film.”

“Are you at Zayn’s?” Harry asked. “Is now an okay time to talk?”

“Yeah, I’m at Zayn’s,” Liam’s voice turned more serious. “Did you- do you think you’re onto something? With Louis, I mean.”

Harry took a deep breath to steady himself and picked the phone up again, taking it off of speakerphone. “Yeah, Liam. I think we are. I just wanted to like, give you a heads up. Or something.”

“Oh,” Liam said, voice soft. Harry couldn’t really tell how he felt about this news. Then again, Liam probably felt as conflicted as he did. 

“I thought you might want to say goodbye,” Harry told him. “Or spend some more time with him. Before it happens.”

This was all assuming that it  _ did _ happen, that their plan worked, but Harry had a really strong feeling it would. 

“Are you, uh…” Liam cleared his throat, and Harry thought he might be trying not to cry. “Are you going to come to Stonecreek before? To say goodbye?”

And now Harry was trying not to cry too. He rubbed at his eyes and tried his best to ignore the block forming in his throat. He knew going to Stonecreek was a bad idea. That seeing Louis again would only make it more difficult to move forward with everything. He didn’t think he could handle it. Louis would probably try to convince him not to go through with it anyway. 

“I’m not planning to,” He told Liam honestly. “I think it would hurt too much. But if you really think I should...”

“No,” Liam answered quickly. “I don’t- I mean. I don’t mean like  _ no _ , but… it’s up to you.”

Harry didn’t know if he was relieved or disappointed that Liam wasn’t going to try convincing him. 

“I’ll let you know if I change my mind, but I think it’s for the best that I don’t.” 

Liam hummed and they sat in silence for a moment. Harry could faintly hear Zayn asking what was going on in the background and Liam telling him he’d explain in a minute.

“What’s going to happen?” Liam asked Harry. “You’re not going to do anything stupid, right?”

“No,” Harry assured him. “It’ll be perfectly safe.” It almost felt too easy.

“Okay,” Liam sighed, his breath sounding loud over the speaker. “Do you want to tell Niall? Or do you want me to?”

“I’ll tell him.” Harry had never considered otherwise. He’d never put that responsibility on him. “And Liam, there’s something else.”

“Okay?” 

Harry swallowed and ran a hand through his damp hair. “I’d like to sign Stonecreek over to you.”

Liam didn’t say anything for a moment while Harry held his breath. 

“What?” he finally asked, voice flat.

“I’m meeting with Azoff in a couple of days,” Harry explained. “He’s working on the paperwork. I just have to sign."

“Harry,” Liam protestsed. “No. You don’t have to do that.”

“I do,” Harry told him. “It’s part of this. And it’s more your home than mine anyway.”

“I-” Liam’s voice broke. “Thank you, but I don’t even know what I’ll do with Stonecreek without Louis there.”

“Whatever you want,” Harry said gently. Liam didn’t sound like he was protesting anymore, just overwhelmed. “Officially move in with Zayn, turn the place into a landmark, I’m sure Louis would approve of whatever you decide.”

Liam cleared his throat. “Right. We’ll turn it into something special. For Louis.”

Harry nodded, even though Liam couldn’t see him. Zayn began complaining very loudly in the background that he needed to know what the hell was going on, so Liam wrapped the call up with Harry and they said their goodbyes. Harry called Niall next, who took the news harder than Harry expected. He wasn’t as composed as Liam and broke with Harry on the phone. It was only a matter of time before Harry couldn’t take it anymore and started crying as well. 

“I know this is what we wanted,” Niall said, sniffling. “But it didn’t hit me that we wouldn’t see him again until right now.”

“Yeah,” Harry said sadly, wishing he could give Niall a hug. “I know.”

“How long do we have with him?” 

“I’m not sure,” Harry answered honestly. “A few days at least.”

“If he doesn’t get into our minds and kill us before then.”

Harry snorted. Niall and Liam had always been better at keeping Louis out of their heads than him, and even if he did find out, Louis would never actually hurt either of them. Besides, there was nothing that Niall or Liam could do anyway, aside from Liam accepting ownership or Stonecreek. If Louis somehow convinced Liam not to sign his part of the ownership papers, Harry would move on to plan B. The auction. But he really hoped it didn’t come to that.

“Well,” Niall said after they chatted for a few more minutes . “I guess I’ll let you go. We love you, man. Thanks again for everything. I know this is harder for you than you’re letting on. Just remember that one day Louis will be able to thank you too.”

Harry held his phone to his ear even after the line went dead until his hands started to shake. He didn’t want to have to wait for that day. He didn’t want to live in a world without Louis in it until that day came. None of it was fair. He didn’t deserve to be put through this, just because his ancestors were assholes. 

But Louis didn’t deserve to have been put through all of this either. He deserved to move on, to be reunited with his family and sleep peacefully. Harry forced himself to think of that, to imagine a perfect world where Louis moved on with his loved ones in the afterlife, as he curled his body up into a ball and cried himself to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> let's just pretend it didn't take me almost four months to update, yeah? thanks for sticking around even tho i'm the woooorst


	6. Winter

Louis woke with a start. He gasped when he felt his heart racing in his chest. He hadn’t _woken up_ in nearly six hundred years. _What the fuck was happening?_

He squeezed his eyes shut and counted to ten, taking a moment to gauge his surroundings. He was in his bedroom, which was much less drafty than he remembered it feeling, the bed firmer and the sheets softer. He tried to listen for Liam, but his mind was startlingly silent. All he could hear was the quiet hum of the heater and his own breathing. Either Liam wasn’t home, which Louis doubted (he knew his schedule by heart) or Louis couldn’t hear him anymore.

He opened his eyes again and looked down at himself. His hands shook as he raised them to eye level. He pinched his arm, hard, and jumped at the slight pain he felt there. Then he started crying, overwhelmed with feelings of relief and confusion and slight terror. He didn’t understand how or why this was happening. He placed a shaky hand to his heart and took a few deep breaths to steady himself.

He slowly turned over and put his feet on the floor, holding on to the bed as he stood up, slightly nervous that he might have forgotten how to walk. It took him a moment to find his balance, but he was okay. A glance down at his body told him he was completely nude. There weren’t any clothes in wardrobe of his room, but he knew Harry had left a few items folded in his dresser next door.

He made his way to the door and stepped out into the hall, glancing towards the stairs before turning to Harry’s room and pushing the door open. He inhaled deeply, wondering if Harry’s scent might linger in the room, but nothing smelled any different. It was one of the things he always wanted to know the most about Harry--what he smelled like.

Louis sighed and walked over to the dresser, reaching inside the top drawer to retrieve a pair of underwear and a white t-shirt. He sniffed the shirt after sliding it over his head and noted the fresh, slightly sweet scent. Not how he’d imagine Harry would smell, but still nice. He then searched the remaining drawers for a pair of the joggers Harry often wore around the castle. He ignored how they were slightly baggy on him as he left the room in search of Liam.

He walked down the stairs slowly, touching everything he passed, marveling in the feeling of the smooth stair banister made of wood beneath his fingers tips, the softness of an old tapestry that needed to be dusted, the cool glass of a window pane. He found Liam in the kitchen, humming as he sipped at a cup of coffee and munched on a bagel. He glanced up when Louis walked in.

“Hey mate,” he said, his greeting smile falling as Louis got closer. His eyes raced up and down his body, probably noting that Louis looked a lot more solid that normal. “Wh-”

Louis pulled him into a hug, revelling in the warmth of his body and his clean scent, similar to Harry’s shirt he was wearing. He squeezed a bit tighter when Liam started to shake in his arms.

“How is this happening?” Liam asked, clutching Louis to him and Louis just let himself _feel_. Liam’s body was solid, all smooth skin and muscle.

“I wish I knew,” Louis murmured, giving Liam another squeeze.

“He did it,” Liam whispered in Louis’ ear, voice sounding awed.

Louis pulled back. “Who did what?”

“Harry,” Liam shook his head in disbelief. “He-”

“What?” Louis demanded, voice cracking as a shock of terror ran through him. He’d been so overwhelmed about being alive again that he hadn’t even thought about Harry being responsible for this. Which was pretty idiotic of him. Harry was the one who’d been dead set on helping Louis since day one. “What did Harry do?”

“I don’t know,” Liam swallowed. “But he said he was going to find a way to help you. He said he was close. He even- I just thought-”

“Liam!” Louis interrupted him with a shout. “What the _fuck_ did he do?”

“I don’t know! He was being really secretive about everything. I don’t think he wanted you to know what he was doing, so he kept it to himself.”

That didn’t make Louis feel any better. He started to tremble, his heart racing once again.

“Call him,” he choked, suddenly finding breathing very difficult. “Call him right now.”

“Oh shit,” Liam grabbed Louis’ arm. “No. Lou, I don’t think he did anything bad. Nothing like-”

“Liam, just fucking call him.”

“Okay, okay,” Liam pulled his phone out of his back pocket. “I don’t know if he’ll answer right away though. He’s terrible at answering his phone, you now.”

Louis just glared at him so Liam dialed the number and held the phone up to his ear. Louis leaned in close to listen in to Liam’s call, praying that Harry would miraculously answer despite it being the middle of the night in Chicago. He didn’t know what he would do if he didn’t hear Harry’s voice immediately.

“Hello?” Harry answered after three rings, his voice sounding scratchy and distant over the phone’s speaker. Louis had never felt so much relief in his entire life. Harry was alive. They were both alive.

“Harry,” Liam looked at Louis, who was near tears. “Sorry mate, did I wake you up?”

“No,” Harry said simply. “I’m up.”

“Oh, great,” Liam swallowed. “Listen, uh… what the fuck did you do?”

Harry paused for a few moments in which Liam and Louis blinked at each other. When he finally responded, his voice sounded different. Maybe hopeful. “Did- did it work?”

“I- ”

Louis yanked the phone out of Liam’s hand and brought it to his own ear.

“You fucking prick!” he shouted. “You scared the shit out of me.”

“Louis?” Harry asked, sounding surprised and confused.

“Yeah,” Louis confirmed. He couldn’t believe he was holding a cell phone in his hands and talking to the love of his entire existence from thousands of miles away. “It’s me.”

“It didn’t fucking work,” Harry mumbled, probably more to himself than to Louis, and Louis could practically hear the pout in his voice. He sounded upset.

Louis still wanted to know what Harry had done, how this was possible, but he knew he needed to comfort him first. If he had it his way, Harry would never find anything to pout about again.

“Love,” Louis said, softening his voice. “It worked.” Whatever _it_ was.

“Clearly, it didn’t,” Harry said dryly.

Louis didn’t know how to explain. He also didn’t know how to comprehend that Harry thought that whatever it was he’d done would have helped Louis to pass on. Harry didn’t think Louis was supposed to exist at all anymore, and even though that had always been Harry’s end goal, Louis still wasn’t sure how he felt about it. If he should be thankful, or sad, or upset.

“Harry, it worked,” he told him again. “I- I’m alive.”

“Yeah, I know. It didn’t work. You’re supposed to be dead.”

Louis shook his head in exasperation. “No, Harry. I’m _alive_.”

Harry paused for a moment, and Louis knew he was finally absorbing what he was being told, piecing things together. When he spoke again, he sounded choked.

“Wh-what do you mean?”

Liam took his phone back and pressed a button that made the speaker louder. “Harry, he means he’s not a ghost anymore. He’s standing in front of me in the flesh. Just gave me a bloody hug.”

Louis gave him another quick one, just because he could and Liam smiled at him when he pulled away. Harry was silent on the other line.

“Harry?” Liam asked.

“Liam,” Harry’s voice sounded funny. “Let me talk to him again.”

“You’re on speaker phone. He’s right here.”

“I’d like to not be on speaker phone.”

Liam pressed a button and gave the phone to Louis.

“Hi,” Louis said softly.

“You’re alive?” Harry asked, sounding a bit breathless. Louis thought he might be crying.

“I’m alive,” Louis confirmed, he glanced up at Liam. “Liam, can you get me a flight to Chicago?”

“No,” Harry said immediately. “Let me come to you.”

 _Absolutely not._ “Harry, I can’t wait to get out of this fucking castle. I’m flying to America.”

Harry cleared his throat. “No, I’m not in Chicago. I’m in London.”

“You’re,” Louis swallowed. He was so close. “You’re in _London?_ ”

He glanced at Liam who looked unsurprised by this information. Louis narrowed his eyes at him, but Liam just smiled.

“Yes,” Harry confirmed. “I have to wrap up a few things here, but I can be at Stonecreek by this afternoon. Just… stay put, please?”

Louis sighed, the thought of staying in Stonecreek for the foreseeable future already making him antsy. “Yeah, okay. I’ll be here.”

“Thank you,” Harry said and Louis thought he could hear a smile in his voice. “I’ll see you soon.”

“Okay,” Louis nodded to himself. “You’ll text Liam or something when you’re on your way?”

Harry hummed in agreement. “Bye, Louis.”

The line went dead and Louis handed the phone back to Liam. “He’s in London, said he’ll be here some time this afternoon.”

“Great.”

“You knew he was in London, didn’t you?”

“Yep.”

Louis raised one of his eyebrows. “How did you keep that from me?”

Liam shrugged. “You weren’t around much this week, and when you were, you were easy to distract. Plus, I just tried not to think about it.”

“Huh,” Louis conceded. Liam had gotten a lot better at hiding things from him over the past couple of years, but he had to practice at it. Louis was a little bit impressed.

“So,” Liam rubbed his hands together and shuffled his feet. “Are you... hungry?”

Louis paused at the question and placed a hand to his stomach. “Uh, I think I am, actually.”

Niall chose that moment to walk in through the kitchen, whistling to himself. He nodded to Liam and Louis as he passed on his way to the sink, before doing a double take. Louis waved at him and Niall dropped the bottle of water he was holding onto the ground, his face paling.

“What the fuck!” he said loudly, his eyes nearly bugging out of his head.

“Harry,” Liam replied simply. Louis shrugged. Niall blinked at them.

“Are you fucking serious? That asshole had me thinking Louis was going to _die_ ,” Niall said indignantly. “I was crying on the phone and everything.”

Louis stored the knowledge that Niall cried over him in the back of his mind to bring up again later, when Niall could handle a bit of teasing.

“To be fair,” Liam crossed his arms over his chest. “I think that’s what Harry assumed was going to happen.”

Niall bent over to retrieve his dropped water bottle. “Huh.”

When he stood back up he just continued to stare at Louis with wide eyes. Louis couldn’t tell if he was scared or just surprised. He found himself trying to reach into his mind again before he remembered he couldn’t do that anymore.

“Okay, get over here and hug me, you wanker!” he said in exasperation.

Finally, Niall grinned. Louis held his arms open as Niall rounded the island before pulling him into a tight embrace. Niall clapped him on the back a handful of times before pulling back and smacking a kiss to Louis’ forehead.

“Holy shit,” he laughed, still shaking his head in disbelief. “I can’t fuckin’ believe this. Does Harry know?”

Liam nodded. “We called him just before you got here. He’s going to be here this afternoon.”

“Is he okay?” Niall wondered.

“I think he’s just as shocked as we are,” Louis admitted.

“We’ll have to make him explain everything later,” Niall stated. “He was being beyond cryptic when I spoke with him the other night.”

“No use worrying about it right now,” said Liam. He turned to Louis. “Do you know what you want to eat?”

“Pizza,” Louis announced. He didn’t have to think about it. He’d always told himself it would be the first meal he tried when he finally made it to heaven. He needed to know what all of the fuss was about.

“It’s nine in the morning,” Liam protested.

“Fine,” Louis shrugged. “For dinner then.”

“Okay, but what do you want for breakfast?”

“Just whatever you had is fine, Liam,” Louis rolled his eyes. “I don’t think I’m going to be too picky.”

“Eggs and a bagel?” Liam asked, but he was already turning to the refrigerator to get started.

Louis took a seat at the island while he waited. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, still getting used to the feeling of having a body. It felt _right_ in a way he could barely remember feeling. How had Harry possibly achieved this?

“You doing alright, mate?” Niall asked, patting Louis on the shoulder.

Louis opened his eyes and took a deep breath. “I’m overwhelmed.”

\---

He was waiting outside later that afternoon when Harry’s car pulled up the drive. The weather was cool and damp, and Liam kept telling him he should come inside, but Louis was revelling in it. He didn’t feel too cold anyway, wearing some fluffy socks Harry had left behind and a pair of Liam’s joggers and one of his coats. He held a warm cup of tea in his hands that he held up to his face when the wind blew and gave him a chill.

He jumped up when the car pulled to a stop in front of him, placing his mug onto the ground next to his feet. Time seemed suspended as Harry stepped out of the car and their eyes met.

Somehow, Harry looked even more beautiful than Louis remembered. It hadn’t been that long since they saw each other in the grand scheme of things, only several weeks, but Louis had managed to forget the way Harry’s hair curled over his forehead, and the way he bit his lip when he was nervous. He was wearing loose blue jeans and an oversized green cardigan that Louis wanted to touch. They stared at each other for a moment, and Louis could tell Harry was trying to take everything in, his gaze running up and down Louis’ body repeatedly.

“Hi,” Louis said after the anticipation started to become too much, and then Harry was moving.

He rushed over and Louis went in for a hug, but Harry cupped his face with both hands and kissed him hard, his lips soft and wet. Louis barely had a moment to react before Harry jumped about two meters away, rubbing at his mouth with the back of his hand before his fingers clenched into a fist.

“Shit, sorry. I don’t- oh, my _God_. I’m so-”

“Get back here and let me hug you,” Louis interrupted him before Harry made himself sick. He pointed to the ground directly in front of his feet.

Harry shuffled over, face beet red and gaze on the ground, and Louis pulled him into the hug he’d initially intended to give him. He badly wanted to know what Harry was thinking, how he was feeling. He reached out mentally, but was met with startling silence. He started to frown in confusion before he remembered that mind-reading wasn’t a skill he had anymore, now that he was human. That was definitely going to take some getting used to.

Harry wrapped his arms around Louis’ waist and his body fell slack against him as he buried his face in Louis’ neck. Louis clenched his jaw to keep himself from crying. He couldn’t believe he was holding Harry Styles in his arms. He’d so often dreamed of just being able to touch him, to hold his hand. This was too overwhelming, but he didn’t dare pull away. He breathed in Harry’s scent, slightly stale and sweaty from travelling, and reached up to run a hand through his curls. They were just as soft as he’d imagined.

“Sorry I just kissed you like that,” Harry mumbled after a moment, starting to fidget in Louis’ arms.

Louis pulled back and dropped his hands to rest on Harry’s hips. They were softer than the rest of him and he resisted the urge to squeeze. Louis was just a bit shorter than Harry with his feet planted on the ground, so he had to lean back slightly to look at him directly.

“Why is that?”

Harry shook his head, a flush running up his neck. “I shouldn’t have assumed that you’d want...”

He trailed off with a shrug and Louis snorted. “Harry, I once told you how to wank and watched. You idiot, of course I want to kiss you.”

Despite his bravado, his breath turned uneven as he leaned back into Harry and kissed him. He was gentler than Harry had been, just a quick and light brush of lips, before he pulled away slightly. Harry’s eyes were closed and he made a soft, pleading noise in the back of his throat that made Louis feel weak in the knees. He wanted nothing more than to lean back into him, but he knew that once he really started touching and kissing Harry, he wouldn’t be able to stop.

“Darling,” Louis murmured and Harry’s eyes fluttered open. He smiled, a dimple poking into his cheek, and Louis promptly started to cry. Harry was so beautiful and he never dared to dream that he would one day get to do this . The emotions that he’d been feeling all day finally overwhelmed him.

Harry immediately wrapped his arms around him again, pulling Louis’ head to rest against his shoulder. “I know,” he whispered.

Louis wasn’t sure how long they stood there while he cried and Harry rubbed his back soothingly, but he forcefully pulled himself together after a little while, knowing that Liam and Niall were probably starting to get impatient.

He took a small step back and wiped at his tears. Harry cupped his face with his hands and rubbed the remaining tears aware with his thumbs.

“The guys are waiting inside,” Louis said, reaching up to wrap a hand around one of Harry’s wrists. “I think you’ve got some explaining to do.”

“Right,” Harry nodded and dropped his hands. Louis stepped to the side. “Let me just get my bag.”

He turned back to the car and Louis followed, feeling too antsy to be more than a foot or so away from him. Now that he had Harry close, it was going to become even more difficult to be apart. Harry reached into the passenger seat and grabbed his backpack. He slung it over his shoulder as he closed the door, and before Louis could overthink it, he grabbed his hand and laced their fingers together.

Harry glanced down and shook his head in disbelief. “Fuck, I’m so overwhelmed right now.”

“Yeah,” Louis knew the feeling. He squeezed Harry’s fingers and Harry squeezed back.

Louis led the way back inside to the kitchen, where Liam and Niall were awkwardly sitting at the kitchen table, making it obvious that they’d definitely been watching the two of them outside. Liam was trying and failing not to smile, while Niall grinned down at the beer bottle in his hands. Louis couldn’t blame them for being nosy.

Harry dropped his bag by the door and Liam stood up to offer him a beer. Louis sat down next to Niall and watched as Liam fussed over Harry for a moment, getting him a beer from the fridge and insisting on warming up leftovers for a late lunch.

Eventually, the pair of them settle at the table across from Louis and Niall and after a few minutes of small talk, Niall finally asked what all of them were wondering.

“So,” he leaned back against his chair and crossed his arms over his chest. “How’d you do it, Harry?”

“Right,” Harry took a deep breath. “So obviously I got in touch with Celine after you texted me.”

He told a slow, rambly story about meeting up with Shawn’s cousins who’d somehow made contact with the dead witch who cursed Louis, and in the process, found out that Harry and his family were part of the curse too.

“That’s why the Paynes were never successful,” Harry explained. “It had to be a Styles. Celine even thinks it might have had specifically had to be me.”

Louis rested his chin on his fist, elbow propped against the table, while Harry spoke about needing to release ownership of Stonecreek in order to be able to do anything else.

“Liam’s the owner now,” he nudged Liam’s shoulder with his own. Louis and Niall both looked at Liam in shock to see what his reaction was to this news, but Liam smiled sheepishly. He already knew.

“You sneaky bastards,” Louis commented.

“Anyway,” Harry continued on, his beer forgotten on the table in front of him. “After we got that settled, Celine and Celeste did a bunch of fancy spellwork. I really didn’t ask them too much about it. I wouldn’t even know _what_ to ask. I wasn’t sure what was going on half the time. I just did what they told me to do and answered any questions they had.”

Louis clenched his jaw in an effort to keep his mouth shut. This is why he never wanted anyone getting involved with this in the first place. He knew nobody would ask the right questions and he was terrified that someone else would get tricked into making this mess worse. He wasn’t quite ready to dismiss that thought yet either. Everything seemed too good to be true.

“We tried three spells before we were successful. They tried a fourth one last night, as one last attempt. I was starting to think we failed with that one too, until Liam called this morning.”

Louis, Niall, and Liam waited for more, but apparently that was all Harry had to say.

“Huh,” Liam said. “So when you say you did spells, do you mean like in _Harry Potter_?”

“Or was it more like _Chilling Adventures of Sabrina_?” Niall asked.

“Definitely more Sabrina,” Harry replied. “Just maybe a little bit less dark? Like, we were just sitting in their living room for most of it.”

Liam and Niall both nodded in fascination, but Louis still wasn’t convinced that was the whole story.

“So what’s the catch?” he asked.

Harry looked at him. “The catch?”

“They’re witches, Harry,” Louis was exasperated. “There has to be a catch.”

“Why?” Harry challenged, crossing his arms over his chest. “Why can’t they have just helped to be nice?”

“Harry, that’s naive.”

“No, it’s not, Louis,” Harry protested. “All this time, you’ve been scared to let anyone help you, but that doesn’t mean people weren’t willing to. And you know that.”

Louis opened his mouth to interrupt but Harry cut him off.

“This was Mathilde’s plan all along, you know. She knew there was no way out of disobeying Isabel’s wishes without consequences for her, but she also knew I would eventually come for you, so she worked the curse in our favor. I’ve been thinking about it all day. We had no idea breaking the curse would do this to you. We all thought you’d just pass on, but Mathilde knew.”

He reached over and placed a hand over Louis’. “Yeah, what you had to go through to get here sucks, and I know that nobody else will ever understand the pain you’ve felt all of these years, but don’t let your pain ruin this second chance you’ve been given.”

Louis didn’t know what to say to all of that. He’d spent so long believing one thing, and it was going to take him a while to accept another. He couldn’t quite wrap his head around what Harry was implying, by saying that Mathilde knew he’d be alive again one day and that she worked the curse in his and Harry’s favor.

“What do you mean Mathilde knew?” he asked. “Like about you specifically, or?”

“Those details are fuzzy to me,” Harry admitted. “But I think so, yeah. Celine said she was a seer.”

“Like Professor Trelawney?” Liam asked.

Harry giggled. “That’s what I said, but they were not impressed with that comparison.”

“Who the fuck is Professor Trelawney?” Louis asked.

“From _Harry Potter!_ ” Liam explained, looking affronted that Louis didn’t already know this. To be fair, he’d insisted Louis watch the films with him on more than one occasion. Louis’ mind just tended to drift after the first few films.

“Oh, my _God_ , Liam,” Louis shook his head in exasperation.

“Anyway,” Harry squeezed Louis’ hand to get his attention back. “All I’m saying is, maybe there’s no catch. Maybe you’re right and there is. But can you just do me a favor and make the most of this while you can?”

Louis looked down at their hands. Harry’s was soft and warm and Louis momentarily focused his attention on that, while he played Harry’s words over in his head. Sitting next to his best friends, with the man of his dreams’ hand in his, was already so much more than he ever imagined he’d get again. Harry was right. He needed to make the most of this while he could. Hopefully that meant forever, but if it wasn’t and he’d wasted his time, he’d never forgive himself.

“Okay,” he said with a nod, looking back up into Harry’s eyes. “Okay.”

They smiled at each other for a moment before Niall shifted uncomfortably and interrupted the moment.

“So,” he said. “Pizza?”

\---

Louis walked Harry up to his room later that night, after pizza and a walk around the grounds. He lingered in the bedroom doorway when Harry continued inside, placing his bag at the foot of the bed.

“Are you... sleeping in your room?” he asked, turning to look at Louis.

“I can, but I don’t actually want to be away from you,” Louis admitted, cheeks heating up. He really hoped Harry wouldn’t throw him out.

“Good,” Harry smiled brightly at him. “Same here.”

Louis took that as permission to cross over the threshold, shoulders sagging in relief. He sat on Harry’s bed and pulled his legs up, resting his chin on his knees.

“I’m dying for a shower,” Harry murmured as he unzipped his bag and rifled through it.

“I already took one today,” Louis replied, watching as Harry emerged with his toiletry bag and a pair of fresh underwear. The hot water had been heavenly. He finally understood why people stayed in there for so long.

Harry glanced up at him. “That wasn’t really an invitation.”

“Rude,” Louis gasped and put a hand to his heart. That hadn’t actually been what he was implying. “You don’t want me to shower with you?”

Harry just rolled his eyes. “Maybe later.”

Louis winked at him and Harry smiled again before retreating to the bathroom. Louis listened as he puttered about on the other side of the door, and then collapsed back onto the bed when he heard the water switch on. He took a few deep breaths to steady himself and replayed the day over in his head.

He touched his lips as he thought about their first couple of kisses, wondering if there were more to come tonight. He wanted to kiss Harry and touch him until the sun came up, but Harry seemed exhausted and Louis wanted to respect his boundaries. He decided he’d let Harry make the first move, both because he refused to rush him, and also because he wasn’t entirely confident in his ability to please Harry just yet. Just the thought alone, that he might actually get to make love to him, had Louis on edge. He didn’t want to somehow ruin anything.

He sat back up when the water shut off in the bathroom and he heard the faint sound of Harry pushing back the shower curtain. He fidgeted on the bed until the bathroom door opened and Harry emerged, wearing only a tight pair of boxers, his hair damp and face fresh. Louis had seen him in this state before--Harry loathed clothes and was notorious for walking around his space without them--but he still gulped at the sight of bare skin and his lean muscles.

“Feeling better?” he asked, patting the space on the bed next to him.

“Loads,” Harry sat down and brushed their knees together.

He yawned and Louis found himself copying him. He thought he might be tired too, but he also doubted he’d be able to go to sleep. He was still too wired from everything.

“How do you feel?” Harry asked. “Is it... weird?”

“Yes and no. If anything, it feels normal, how things should be, but I’m still getting used to normal again.”

“I guess that makes sense,” Harry yawned again and rubbed a hand down his face.

“You need to go to sleep,” Louis announced and stood up to pull the sheets back. “You’ve had a long week and you look absolutely knackered.”

Harry didn’t argue. He just nodded and got under the covers. After a moment’s hesitation, Louis shed his joggers and joined him. He was debating whether or not he should move closer to Harry, maybe put an arm around him, when Harry settled down deeper and turned away from him.

“Stop overthinking it and cuddle me,” he ordered. Louis smirked to himself and moved into Harry’s space, slowly draping his arm across his waist. Harry reached for his hand, laced their fingers together and sighed contentedly.

Louis counted his breaths as Harry drifted off, reveling in the warmth of a solid body against his. He tucked his nose into the nape of Harry’s neck and inhaled, smelling his freshly showered scent. 

“I’m scared that this could all be a dream,” he admitted after a while, but Harry didn’t answer. He was already sound asleep.

\-----

Harry startled awake from a bad dream in the middle of the night. He rolled over onto his back and took a few deep breaths as the nightmare faded, glancing beside himself to see that Louis was in fact, still alive and breathing steadily next to him, despite what his dreams told him. Harry reached for his phone to check the time and saw that it wasn’t actually the middle of the night anymore. It was just a few minutes after five in the morning and he decided it would probably be better to go ahead and get up for the day. He sat up and ran his hands down his face, trying to rub the the sleep out of his eyes.

“Alright?” Louis whispered next to him, startling Harry again.

Harry turned his head. Louis was laying on his side facing him, cheek pressed against the pillow as he blinked sleepily up at Harry.

“Just a bad dream,” Harry said. “Did I wake you up?”

“Maybe?” Louis’ shoulders lifted in a slight shrug. “I’ve only been drifting in and out of sleep all night. I don’t think my body remembers how to have an appropriate sleep cycle yet. What was your dream about?”

“You were gone,” Harry said simply, not willing to get into the details of the dream. He didn’t want to think about it.

Louis hummed in understanding and reached out to place a warm yet tentative hand on Harry’s thigh. “I’m right here.”

Harry looked down at him and smiled. He covered Louis’ hand with his own and Louis turned his hand over and threaded his fingers through Harry’s. The touch was so simple, but Harry felt like he might start crying in relief. He vowed to never take Louis’ touch for granted. And while the innocent touches they’d shared over the past day were nice, he was starting to crave more.

“What’s on your mind, love?” Louis asked, his voice soft and scratchy and lovely. Harry almost made a comment about how Louis should know what he was thinking about, but then he realized that this Louis didn’t. He’d always told himself that he was annoyed at Louis’ ability to read his mind, but now that Louis couldn’t anymore, he wasn’t so sure. Sometimes it was easier not to have to explain himself.

Louis sat up when Harry didn’t reply right away. He ran a firm, soothing hand up and down Harry’s back, waiting patiently for him to speak.

“Will you kiss me again?” Harry asked, holding his breath in anticipation.

Louis replied by leaning up and in to press their lips together. The kiss started out soft and chaste, like the last time Louis kissed him, just a light brush of lips that made Harry’s skin tingle and his heart drop to his stomach. Harry deepened the kiss after a moment, when it started to become obvious to him that Louis wasn’t going to. He licked the seam of Louis’ lips, asking for entrance, and Louis hummed. The sound went straight to Harry’s cock.

Harry pulled away after a moment, but remained close enough for them to rest their foreheads against one another. “Would you want to do more than kiss?” he asked. “Or would you rather we wait?”

Louis leaned in for another peck before answering. “I want to do everything with you.”

“Now?” Harry kissed Louis’ chin, gently ran the tip of his tongue along his jaw.

Louis laughed. “Eager, are we?”

Harry was about to protest, even though he _was_ eager. He didn’t want Louis to feel any pressure, but Louis shifted on the bed, pushing up and bringing one leg over Harry’s lap to straddle him. Harry couldn’t believe his good fortune.

“I’m just teasing you, love,” Louis said, taking Harry’s hands and placing them on his thighs. “This alright with you?”

“Yes,” Harry ran his hands up Louis’ thighs and held onto his hips. “More than alright.”

He glanced down to see Louis was starting to stiffen up in his underwear. _Definitely_ more than alright.

He tilted his chin up for another kiss and Louis obliged. Harry reveled in it, the slight stubble rubbing against his cheeks in contrast with the softness of Louis’ lips and tongue, the way Louis kissed him like he was the most important thing in the world.

When Louis moved closer and pulled away from Harry’s mouth to trail kisses down to his neck, Harry palmed at his cock hesitantly, a question.

“Fuck,” Louis bit at Harry’s neck, and Harry took that as permission to reach inside his underwear to pull Louis free.

Harry wrapped a hand around his length and squeezed, smiling to himself when Louis cursed again. He stroked up and squeezed once, twice, before Louis was pushing his hand away and stiffening above him. Harry furrowed his brow in confusion, about to ask if Louis was okay, when he glanced down. His eyes widened in surprise.

“Did you just-”

Louis nodded, sighing heavily as his cheeks reddened in embarrassment. He sat up straight on Harry’s lap and pinched the bridge of his nose. Harry couldn’t help it. He started laughing; he was so hopelessly endeared.

“Hey,” Louis huffed, smacking Harry’ on the chest. “I haven’t had sex in over a million years. Don’t be an ass.”

“Don’t be so dramatic,” Harry countered, grabbing Louis hand and kissing his palm. “It’s only been six hundred years.”

Louis narrowed his eyes. “I’ll chop off your dick.”

“Hm,” Harry tilted his head like he was considering this. “But that doesn’t sound very fun for you.”

Louis rolled his eyes and leaned down for another kiss.

“Sorry,” he murmured against Harry’s lips. “I suppose this is rather embarrassing.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Harry shrugged and bit playfully at Louis’ bottom lip. “I’m actually kind of flattered.”

“Are you still…” Louis trailed his hand down Harry’s chest and paused at the waistband of his underwear. “Like, do you want me to return the favor?”

He shook his head very seriously. “I don’t think I want a twenty second hand job.”

Louis glared at him. “I fucking hate you.”

Harry was fairly certain he’d never been this happy in his entire life. He grinned at Louis, who tried to keep up the glaring for all of five seconds before he was beaming back at him.

“Maybe it’s a good thing I didn’t last,” Louis pursed his lips together in a smirk. “Now that the edge has been taken off, I can really take my time with you.”

Harry’s heart dropped down to his stomach. “Oh?”

“Mhmm,” Louis kissed his lips briefly before making his way down Harry’s neck and chest, pausing to place a wet kiss on one of his nipples.

He kissed all the way down Harry’s stomach, taking his time, as promised. Harry’s face felt hot and his cock twitched from where it was trapped underneath Louis’ chest. He rocked his hips slightly, trying to chase a bit of friction. Louis took a deep breath before scooting down even further and his hands shook as he ran his finger tips up and down Harry’s thighs. The look of reverence on his face was almost too much for Harry to take. But he thought maybe he understood.

“Touching you is better than I imagined,” Louis whispered as he placed a kiss to Harry’s hip. “And I imagined a lot. I spent at least a week picturing how I would touch you in excruciating detail after that morning when you let me watch you.”

“Only a week?” Harry teased, trying to relieve some of the tension that was starting to fill the room. If Louis didn’t touch his dick soon he was absolutely going to die.

Louis rolled his eyes and placed a kiss to Harry’s other hip. “Shut up.”

He slipped his fingers beneath the band of Harry’s underwear and slowly pulled them off, Harry shifting on the bed to help him and kicking them across the room once they got tangled around his ankles.

Harry watched as Louis took in the sight of him and visibly swallowed.

“There’s no way that’ll fit in me,” he muttered and Harry giggled.

“Who said it was going in you?” he wondered. It didn’t matter that much to him, but he often preferred it the other way. He just knew that Louis needed to touch him some way soon or else he was going to die.

“Well, we aren’t doing it the other way around,” Louis said, still staring at Harry’s dick. “I have no idea what I’m doing.”

Harry bit his lip. Not for the first time, he wondered how much experience Louis had in his previous life. He knew that Louis had been intimate with men before--Louis had told him as much--but he didn’t know the specifics. He imagined it was much different back then, scarier and more rushed.

“We don’t have to tonight,” Harry assured him. “But I’ll... help you. Whenever you’re ready to try. Tonight you can just touch me.”

He rocked his hips slightly, trying to get Louis to take the hint.

He didn’t. He just continued to stare at Harry with a mixture of nerves and awe written all over his face. Impatient and hard as rock, Harry reached down to grab himself, starting to get self-conscious and thinking maybe Louis would just want to watch, but Louis quickly batted his hand away.

“You’re going to kill me,” Harry told him matter-of-factly, but he dropped his hand down to the mattress anyway. He liked the idea of Louis being in control, if that’s what this was. He remembered that Louis knew he liked that too, and decided he was intentionally torturing him.

Harry rocked his hips again in frustration. He didn’t think he’d ever been this hard in his entire life, and it was just from Louis looking at him.

“Okay, okay,” Louis finally gave in, taking Harry’s length into his firm grip. “I’ll take care of you, love.”

Harry thrust up into his hand and Louis draped his arm over hips to hold him in place. He began to move his hand and Harry collapsed back against the pillows, just letting the feeling of Louis taking care of him wash over him.

“Is this good?” Louis asked after a moment, squeezing experimentally. His voice sounded raspier than normal.

“Yeah,” Harry nodded at the ceiling, but he wished he had some lube with him. That wasn’t something he thought he’d need when he planned this trip. “Maybe just lick your hand though? Feels better when it’s wet.”

Louis took his hand away and Harry tensed, waiting for it to return, but instead Louis took him into his mouth.

“Oh, fuck me,” Harry hissed. Louis flattened his tongue against the underside of his cock and swallowed him down, trying to take him all the way before his gag reflex kicked in and he had to pull off. Then he repeated the motion, over and over. He was somehow both careful and enthusiastic with the way he touched him, and was a lot for Harry to take. He felt antsy and hot all over, his breath coming out in embarrassingly harsh pants.

Louis fondled his balls almost absent-mindedly before tracing a finger down to Harry’s hole. He merely rested his finger there, but that combined with him sucking hard at the head of his cock had Harry coming with a groan.

Louis didn’t swallow. He pulled back and watched in fascination as Harry came, making a mess on his stomach and Louis’ hand. He wiped his hand on the sheets next to them before smiling up at Harry, looking proud of himself. He was the most beautiful thing Harry had ever seen, with his pupils blown wide and his lips swollen, sweaty hair matted to his forehead. Harry smiled back at him and ran a hand through his hair, pushing it out of his eyes.

“I love you,” he murmured. Louis smile grew wider.

“I love you, too,” he said back, raising himself up to give Harry a kiss. Harry pulled him down to lay on top of him and deepened the kiss, licking into Louis mouth with a moan. He tasted so good.

They continued to kiss lazily, fingers exploring each other, until the sun started to come up. At some point, they must have dozed off because the next thing Harry knew, he was opening this eyes and the sun had settled in the sky. Birds were chirping in the tree right outside the window. His stomach rumbled and he felt dehydrated. Louis was still sleeping peacefully at his side, so Harry got out of bed quietly, remembering what he said about not sleeping well the night before.

He went to the restroom and quickly brushed his teeth before tip toeing past Louis’ sleeping form out of the bedroom. Liam wasn’t in the kitchen when Harry stepped inside to get a glass of water, but music was playing softly from the speaker on the counter and the coffee pot was going, so Harry knew he was around somewhere.

He popped some bread into the toaster and was pouring himself a cup of coffee when Liam walked in, laundry basket in his hands.

“Good morning!” Harry said brightly.

“Hey,” Liam set the laundry basket down on the island. “Where’s Lou?”

“Still sleeping.”

Liam pulled a shirt out of the basked and began folding it. “How’s he doing do you think?”

“He seems to be handling things well, all things considered,” Harry sipped at his coffee. “I think he’s still in shock, but it’s start to wear off.”

His toasted popped up and he put it on a plate, topping it with butter and jam before taking a seat at the island while Liam folded clothes. He munched on his toast and scrolled through the missed messages on his phone, making a face when he got to the one his mom sent the day before. _When is your flight back? Do you need a ride from the airport? Robin can pick you up and bring you straight here and you can spend the long weekend with us._

“My mom is going to kill me,” Harry groaned. “I told her I’d be back by Thanksgiving.”

“Why won’t you?” Liam asked, stacking a few folded hand towels.

“I’m staying here with Louis, obviously.”

“I don’t want to stay at Stonecreek.”

Harry glanced up to see Louis standing in the doorway, rubbing sleepily at his eyes.

“What?” Harry asked in surprise. “Why?”

Louis huffed. “Honestly, I’d be happy to never set foot here again.” He glanced at Liam. “No offense.”

Liam nodded. "I understand.”

Harry looked at both of them skeptically. “Louis, this is your home. You’ve always told me that.”

“Yeah, and it was my home for half a millenium,” Louis allowed, shrugging his shoulders. “I’m sure I’ll miss it. But now I want to… start over. With you.”

If Harry might have argued with him, all desire to vanished when he saw the desperate look on Louis’ face. It was clear he’d thought about this. He wasn’t making a snap decision and Harry’s support was important to him.

“Okay,” He agreed. Who knew what Liam was going to do with the place anyway? Harry couldn’t assume that he’d let the pair of them stay at Stonecreek forever. “Okay. I was going to start looking for a new apartment in Chicago when I got back anyway. We can do that together.”

Louis walked over and kissed his cheek. “Thank you. That sounds perfect.”

He sat on the stool next to Harry and stole his water glass, taking a large gulp.

“How are we going to get you there though?” Liam asked.

“What do you mean?” Louis placed a hand on Harry’s knee and squeezed. Harry reached down and linked their fingers together.

“You don’t have a passport or an NIN or anything,” Liam explained, shaking out a blanket. “According to history, you’re dead. How are you going to get out of the country?”

Harry frowned. He hadn’t even considered that. He turned to Louis to see what he thought about this predicament, but Louis didn’t look worried, just thoughtful.

“The Azoffs have a lot of connections,” he said after a moment. “And lord knows we’ve paid them enough money over the years. I wonder if Jeff can find a way to help us with documentation.”

Liam paused in his folding. “That’s illegal, though. You think they’ll help us with something like that?”

“Well, Liam,” Louis rolled his eyes. “Considering I was a ghost less than 48 hours ago, I think this situation is kind of unprecedented. I think following the law might be the least of our worries right now, but what do you suggest we do instead?”

“Okay,” Liam held his hands up in surrender. “Jesus, I was just saying.”

“Plus, it’s not like the Azoffs haven’t bent the law for us before.”

“That’s true.”

Harry didn’t even want to know what they were referencing. “Maybe we should see if they can help with this kind of thing at all before we you two get started,” he suggested.

“You heard the man, Liam,” Louis said. “Get them on the phone.”

They didn't hear back from Jeff until three weeks later. Harry had remained at Stonecreek instead of returning to Chicago without Louis. His mother had been less than pleased when he called and told her that he was staying in England longer than originally planned. He'd never missed a holiday before, and she yelled at him for a good five or so minutes before Harry was able to explain that he wasn't coming back right away because he was spending the holiday with his new boyfriend. After that, Anne begrudgingly admitted that she was happy for him and hit him with hundreds of questions about Louis.

"He's it, mom," he told her when she asked just how serious things were between them. "He's everything."

"Oh, sweetheart," she'd cooed. "Are you serious? I can't wait to meet him. You're coming back before Christmas, right?"

That question, Harry didn't know how to answer. It all depended on what Jeff was able to do for them. Which turned out to be a lot more than Harry ever could have imagined. He called Liam about a week and a half before Christmas and arranged to travel to Stonecreek two days later.

He arrived in the afternoon, looking pristine as usual, dressed in a suit and carrying his briefcase. He shook his head in disbelief when he walked into the library and saw Louis.

"I don't even want to know how this happened," he said. "But it's great to see you in the flesh, Lord Tomlinson."

"Thank you, Jeff," Louis smiled and shook his hand, which again made Jeff shake his head in awe.

Liam gestured for him to have a seat and they got to business.

"So," Jeff began. "My father has a contact who was able to help with your request." He snapped open his briefcase and retrieved a manila folder. "We've got Louis a birth certificate, driver's license, a passport, and dual citizenship for the U.K. and the United States. You shouldn't run into any problems getting work or residence in either country."

"Holy shit," Harry breathed. They'd been expecting a birth certificate, a passport, and maybe a travel visa at most. "You're a miracle worker."

"Seems to me like you're the miracle worker," Jeff countered, handing the folder over to Louis. "All of your documentation should be in there."

"How much do we owe you?" Liam asked, looking over Louis' shoulder as he flipped through the documents.

"Nothing," Jeff said. "My father said not to worry about it."

Liam began to protest but Jeff shook his head.

"Your family and Louis have been very generous to us over the past few years. Consider this a final favor. Or a Christmas present, if you'd like."

"Thank you," Louis closed the folder. "You have no idea how much this means. We can never repay you for this."

Jeff cleared his throat, clearly uncomfortable with the kind words. "Just make sure we get an invite to the wedding." He winked at Harry.

"Fuck," Louis muttered. "I forgot we can get _married_."

"Well, you haven't proposed yet," Harry pointed out. Louis got a conspiratorial glint in his eye and smirked in a way that made Harry’s stomach do a somersault.

He looked away from Louis to see Liam looking at the pair of them fondly, eyes a little misty. Harry knew that Liam was beyond happy for them, and for Louis especially. His time was split between wanting to spend as much time with Louis was possible, and wanting to give Harry and Louis their space.

The past few weeks had been a whirlwind. Introducing Louis to the world was both fun and nerve-wracking. He was terrified of riding in cars for the first few days and had nearly broken Harry’s fingers from squeezing them so hard during his first ride. Harry thought he was still secretly scared of them, but he put on a brave face whenever he had to ride passenger into town. Louis hadn’t changed his mind about moving to Chicago with Harry. Big city traffic was going to be an entire ordeal and Harry didn’t even want to think about their first plane trip.

They also spent plenty of time getting to know each other on a physical level. Louis continued to grow more confident and comfortable with Harry both in and out of bed. Both Liam and Niall had walked in on them getting lost in the heat of the moment more than once. Niall thought it was hilarious, but Liam was exasperated with them both. Harry figured they should probably be more careful, but it was often difficult for him to think straight when Louis’ lips or hands were on him.

Jeff left an hour or so later, after Liam insisted he join them for tea. After business was settled, the four of them endured awkward small talk until Jeff announced he needed to get back to the city before dark.

"So that's it?" Liam asked Louis, returning to the library after walking Jeff out. "You and Harry are leaving?"

His voice broke on the last word and instead of answering, Louis pulled Liam into a hug. Harry slowly backed out of the room. He figured the two of them needed their privacy. Harry would be devastated if Louis moved across the world from him and he'd known him for less than a year. Liam knew Louis his whole life. He was his best friend. Harry couldn't even begin to imagine what he was feeling. Sure, they’d be back to visit (despite what Louis said, Harry was sure he might miss Stonecreek at some point) but this was a huge change for both of them.

He retreated to the kitchen, where he opened his laptop and started his search for plane tickets. He was comparing pricing for different airlines on different travel sites when Louis walked in by himself several minutes later.

“Is he going to be okay?” Harry asked as Louis wrapped an arm around his waist and rested his chin on Harry’s shoulder to look at the screen with him. “I know we were planning to, but we don’t have to leave right away.

“Yes,” Louis murmured. “We do. Liam will be fine. He’s spending Christmas with Zayn’s family anyway. There’d be no point in us staying behind.”

Harry nodded, but he still felt guilty, selfish even, for taking Louis away from his family. Because that’s who Liam was to him. The Paynes had been his family for almost forever.

“I promise it’ll be fine,” Louis reassured him, still able to read his moods even without the special ability. “He knows I’m ready to start over. He knows that I _need_ to start over.”

“Okay,” Harry said quietly. “There’s a flight that leaves in the afternoon the day after tomorrow. What do you think?”

Louis kissed Harry on the cheek. “Let’s do it.”


	7. Epilogue: Ten Months Later

“We’re going to be late,” Harry said for probably the twelfth time in the last ten minutes. 

Louis glanced over at him. There were sitting in the car in traffic on the way out of London. Louis watched as Harry’s hands tightened around the steering wheel and his left leg bounced up and down the more impatient he got. 

“It’s going to be fine,” Louis said, reaching over to change the radio station when a commercial came on. Harry pressed the aux button when Louis was unsuccessful with the radio and Louis grabbed Harry’s phone out of the console to scroll through his playlists. 

They were on the way to Stonecreek for Liam and Zayn’s wedding. It was Louis’ first time back in England since moving to Chicago with Harry almost a year prior. The timing of everything was out of their control. It wasn’t their fault that their flight was delayed and they had to wait for what felt like hours at baggage claim for their luggage. The traffic was out of their control too. Liam and Zayn would understand. Well, Zayn would. Liam was stressed to the max about the wedding and Louis honestly couldn’t predict how he would react to anything these days, but Louis had texted a few minutes ago to let them know he and Harry were going to be late. He hadn’t gotten a response yet. 

“It’s just the rehearsal dinner,” Louis reminded Harry. “The actual wedding isn’t until tomorrow. We’ll be on time for that.”

“You’re the best man,” Harry scoffed. “You have to be on time for the rehearsal.”

Louis rolled his eyes, but reached over to pat Harry’s thigh. He could feel the tension in his body and he wished there was a way to help him relax. He knew of a few things, but unfortunately none he could do while Harry was driving unless he wanted to end up driving them off the road. 

His phone buzzed in his lap and he looked down to see a text from Zayn.

_ All good mate. Just get here when you can. Be safe. _

Louis read the text aloud to Harry. “See? Everything is going to be fine.”

It didn’t do much to easy Harry’s nerves, but it did seem to help a little bit. Louis supposed this was a fair trade for their ride to the Chicago airport when he’d almost thrown up from anxiety and Harry tried and failed to calm him down. Louis hated flying. Before this trip, he’d only done it once when he moved to America, and he put off doing it again for as long as possible. 

When they finally made it out of the city, Harry relaxed a bit more. They sat in silence for a while until Louis got bored and suggested they play a game, which resulted in several rounds of 20 questions.

“We’re about fifteen minutes away,” Harry said after winning their last game. He reached over and squeezed Louis’ knee. “You think you’ll be okay?” 

“Yeah,” said Louis. When they’d received their wedding invitation in the mail, both Harry and Louis had been surprised to see that the wedding was being held at Stonecreek Castle. They knew from their frequent chats with Liam and Niall that they still weren’t allowing many visitors, so Louis imagined that many of the guests were going to be excited to finally get a look at the castle up close.   


Louis was anxious about returning to Stonecreek at first. It had taken a few months for him to get used to being alive again and Stonecreek held a lot of memories of death that he didn’t like to revisit. He was happier than he’d ever been, living in Chicago with Harry, and returning home felt a bit like tempting fate. He wouldn’t do it for anyone other than Liam.

He took a deep breath when Harry turned down the road that led to the castle. The grounds were just as beautiful as they’d always been. Niall always did such a great job with the gardening and landscaping. When they got closer to the front of the castle, Louis could see rows of white chairs lined up in the garden, facing a simple wooden arbor. 

There were a handful of people milling about outside. Louis spotted Zayn standing off to the side with one of his sisters, and Geoff and Karen Payne talking to a young man he didn’t know. Shawn, who was singing for the ceremony, was fiddling with sheet music and a music stand, pick in his mouth and guitar in one hand. Harry parked in the drive behind a few other cars.

“Doesn’t look like they’ve started yet,” Harry commented. “I hope they weren’t waiting on us.” 

Louis just hummed in agreement and took a deep breath as he opened his car door. He was greeted almost instantly by Niall, who nearly ran up to the car when he saw the pair of them getting out of it. He greeted them with a huge smile. 

Liam and Zayn took a trip to Chicago over the summer to see Louis and Harry, but Louis hadn’t seen Niall since he left. He looked handsome in slacks and a button down shirt. 

“It’s so good to see you, Nialler,” Louis said, pulling him into a tight hug. Niall patted him on the back a bit. “Sorry we’re late.”

“We haven’t started yet,” Niall said when they pulled apart. “Liam’s been on the phone with the caterer about something for the past ten minutes.” 

He moved to greet Harry and Louis glanced around the garden at they hugged each other. A few people were trying and failing not to stare at him and Harry with interest. Louis was sure Harry had met a few of these people before, but Louis only knew them from his, Liam’s, or Niall’s memories. 

“Do you need help taking your bags inside?” Niall asked Harry. “Liam said to put you in your old room.”

Harry shook his head. “I’ve got it. You just tell Louis where he needs to go.”

He took their bags around back to the kitchen entrance and Louis followed Niall over to where everything was set up. He was greeted by Liam’s parents next. He’d spent a bit of time with them before leaving the country, but Geoff still looked spooked to see Louis in the flesh.

“So sorry we’re late,” Louis apologized to the both of them.

“Oh, it’s alright, dear,” Karen assured him. “These things never do start on time.”

Liam popped up out of nowhere to give Louis a brief hug and then the wedding planner was shouting and clapping to get everyone’s attention. The rehearsal ran pretty smoothly as far as Louis was concerned. He simply walked and stood where he was directed and tried to keep out of the way as much as possible. He was joined by Niall and Liam’s third groomsman, Andy, who seemed confused by Louis’ presence. Louis thought that was fair. He knew Andy was one of Liam’s good friends and he was justified in finding it odd that Louis was best man and they’d never met before.

“How do you know Liam, again?” he kept asking, but thankfully Niall or Geoff were always around to run interference when Louis struggled to answer. At this point, he didn’t particularly care if the people of Stonecreek knew he was the ghost who used to haunt the castle, but he wasn’t sure what Liam’s opinion on that was. 

Harry sat in one of the chairs towards the back with Liam’s sister, Roo, and her husband while the wedding party rehearsed. Louis caught his eye a few times and Harry kept making silly faces at him or giving him exaggerated thumbs up that made Louis roll his eyes fondly. Harry as such a dork and Louis was so stupidly in love with him. 

After the rehearsal and a lovely dinner of Pakistani food made by Zayn’s family, Louis and Harry finally had some alone time with Liam and Niall. Harry made tea and the four of them gathered in the library to catch up. 

“So, we were contacted by one of those haunted tours of England companies again,” Liam said, briefly eying the way Louis and Harry were cuddled together on the couch and smiling. Louis was sitting up straight with Harry laying back against his chest. “And it got me thinking about what we can do with this place.”

Louis raised his eyebrows in interest. Every few years, the Paynes or the Styles were approached by some ghost hunting organization or another. The Paynes never gave them the time of day and Louis scared the Styles family enough that they didn’t dare pursue anything of the sort. 

“We’re thinking about making Stonecreek some kind of inn or bed and breakfast,” Niall said. “There’s a ton of people who’d love to come and stay overnight in a haunted castle.”

“But it’s not haunted anymore,” Harry said in confusion, shifting in Louis’ arms.

Liam shrugged. “I don’t think that matters. Stonecreek has enough of a reputation among ghost hunters that people would enjoy coming to visit regardless. Plus, the whole town still thinks it’s haunted. Word of mouth is enough to get people interested.”

“Half of the places that claim to be haunted aren’t really haunted anyway,” Niall pointed out. “But we could always advertise it as a once-haunted castle too.”

Liam nodded. “We just wanted to run it by Louis first, given that we’d kind of be exploiting his story for a profit.”

The pair of them looked to Louis for his reaction to this idea. He considered them for a moment, but truthfully, he didn’t care that much. He wanted to move on from Stonecreek, and he’d already started doing that as best he could. What happened to the castle was no longer any of his concern. Harry ran his fingertips gently up and down the arm Louis had wrapped around him and Louis wondered what he thought. 

For a brief moment, he found himself starting to reach out into his mind, before remembering himself. It took him a long time to break that habit, and almost a year later, he didn’t often forget that he didn’t have the ability to read minds anymore. Only every now and then did he forget himself, usually when he wanted to know Harry’s opinion on something but didn’t want to outright ask.

“I think it’s a really good idea,” Harry said, as if he knew what Louis was thinking. 

Louis nodded. “Yeah, me too.”

“Are you sure?” Liam asked, glancing between the pair of them. 

“I’m sure,” Louis told Liam, who breathed out a small sigh of relief and smiled. 

“Just…” Harry started. “Maybe keep the details about Louis kind of vague. We probably don’t want people clueing in on the fact that a five hundred year old man is walking around.”

He had a point.

“Duh,” Niall said. 

“Let us know if you need our help with anything,” Louis said and Harry nodded in agreement. 

“So, Niall,” Harry began, shifting in Louis’ arms as he began to change the subject. “Shawn mentioned that you asked him and Hailee to move in with you.”

“Right,” Niall nodded to himself while Liam and Louis cooed at him. “That’s my cue.”

He stood up and pretended to make for the door while Harry giggled at his embarrassment. 

“Sit back down, lad,” Louis demanded. Niall huffed but did as he was told, not leaving until half an hour and a lot of teasing later. He instructed Liam to get some beauty rest for his big day on his way out and Harry and Louis trudged up the stairs to settle in for the night. 

They each took a quick shower and Louis slid into bed naked with the book he had started reading on the plane, while Harry brushed and flossed his teeth. Louis was tempted to pull on a jumper; it was chilly in the room, but Harry thought it was a crime for either of them to sleep with clothes on. Plus, Harry ran hot and Louis knew that as soon as he joined him in bed, he’d warm right up.

He’d made it through a few passages in his book when Harry emerged from the bathroom and threw himself down onto the bed on his stomach and peered up at Louis. 

“Can I help you?” Louis asked, looking away from his book to admire Harry’s back. 

“Wanna have sex?” Harry blinked at him innocently. 

“Hmm,” Louis pretended to ponder that for a second. Neither of them were fooled. He always wanted to have sex with Harry. “You might need to convince me.”

Harry grinned. “I think I can manage that.”

“That confident, are you?” He had every right to be. Louis’ cock was already starting to stiffen underneath the sheets. 

Harry hummed in response and pulled the sheets away from Louis’ body. Louis watched him reposition himself so he lay in between Louis’ legs and reach for his cock.

“No hands,” Louis instructed. 

Harry’s breath caught in the way it always did when Louis took charge in bed. Louis catalogued the movement of his adam’s apple as he swallowed and pulled his hands back to rest at his sides. He opened his mouth and dragged his tongue up the side of Louis’ length, traced the tip, and then ran his tongue back down the other side. Louis considered pretending to read while Harry worked --that always really got Harry worked up-- but he was having too much fun watching him. 

He placed his book on the bedside table and grabbed a handful of Harry’s hair. Harry made a soft noise in the back of his throat and repeated the same motion with his tongue a few more times, teasing Louis to full hardness. When he got there, Harry sucked on the head of his dick until Louis gently pushed his head all the way down. Harry went easily, swallowing Louis down and working him with his tongue. 

He moaned in a way that made Louis’ heart stutter. Harry was always so fucking  _ indulgent _ . Louis was certain that he would blow him for hours if Louis would let him. Or if he could hold off from coming for that long.

Louis had other plans tonight. He gently tugged at Harry’s hair to pull him off of him. 

“You packed lube, right?” Louis asked when Harry met his eyes. His cheeks were flushed and his lips wet. 

Harry nodded. “Yes. Obviously.” 

He jumped up from the bed before Louis had the chance to move and retrieved the lube from his suitcase. He passed the lube to Louis, but Louis handed it back to him and spread his legs. 

Louis thought Harry might have stopped breathing for a second before he smiled and uncapped the bottle. He settled in between Louis’ legs again and mouthed at his cock some more while his fingers got to work. Having Harry work him open, focus solely on Louis, was still just as overwhelming as it had been the first time they did this. Louis had been anxious about it then, but now he relaxed, running his fingers through Harry’s hair and letting his head fall back when Harry slowly pushed into him. 

“God, I love your dick,” Louis said when Harry bottomed out, pausing for a moment to give Louis time to adjust.

Harry laughed. “Mmm, you’re so romantic.”

Louis hummed and clenched around Harry in response, which caused Harry to hiss out a curse. He looked down at him in question, silently asking if Louis was ready for him to move, and Louis nodded slightly. Harry began to rock his hips slowly and Louis sighed. This kind of intimacy wasn’t something he ever thought he’d be able to have, and after almost a year of it, he still managed to feel overwhelmed at times.

They were silent when Harry tucked his face into Louis’ neck and quickened his pace, only the sounds of their heavy breathing and skin hitting skin filling the room. 

“I love you,” Louis murmured when low moans started to accompany Harry’s heavy breathing, because he  _ could _ be romantic when he wanted to. 

Harry kissed his neck. “Love you too.”

“Hmm,” Louis tilted his head to the side to give him easier access and placed his feet flat on the bed to better allow himself to meet Harry’s thrusts. “Want you to come.”

“Fuck,” Harry whispered, adjusting the angle. Louis wrapped a hand around his own cock and stroked. “Want you to come first.”

“Always have to be so accommodating,” Louis commented, as if Harry waiting until he came was a huge hardship for him. His teasing words had the desired effect. Harry’s thrusts became hard and fast as he focused both on chasing his own release and fucking Louis in the way that always did him in. 

Louis was close, but he got his way and Harry came first. The sight of him throwing his head back as he stiffened above Louis, chest and face flushed, is what sent him over the edge too. Harry collapsed onto him almost immediately and they caught their breath in silence. Louis ran a hand up and down Harry’s sweaty back. They were going to have to shower again. Or at least rinse off. 

“We need to rinse off,” he told Harry, who grunted in response. 

Louis waited for a moment, but apparently Harry didn’t care about being clean. 

“ _ Harry _ ,” he huffed.

“No.”

Louis rolled his eyes even though Harry couldn’t see him, face still tucked in Louis’ shoulder. He placed a wet kiss to Louis’ neck. “Don’t wanna move.”

Louis sighed. This happened more often than he would ever like to admit. Harry was useless after an orgasm and could be really stubborn when he wanted to be, which was usually when Louis was naked in his vicinity. Unfortunately for Harry, Louis knew exactly how to push his buttons to get him feeling compliant. 

“Let me up then,” Louis murmured. “So I can take care of you.”

Harry made a noise like a whine and flipped over onto his back so Louis could get up. He padded over to the bathroom and wet a washcloth which he then ran over his and Harry’s bodies to clean them off. Harry was practically snoring by the time he was done, having fallen asleep as Louis ran the flannel gently over his skin.

Louis disposed of the flannel in the bathroom and joined Harry back on the bed, clicking off the lamp and curling around Harry’s body. He lay awake for a little while. He felt too weird being back at Stonecreek to totally relax and his mind was racing, but eventually Harry’s warmth and steady breathing lulled him to sleep too.

\---

The wedding was beautiful. Harry sat next to Hailee and one of her friends during the ceremony but sometimes struggled to focus on Liam and Zayn. His attention kept being drawn back to Louis, who he’d never seen in a such a nicely tailored suit before, and he looked so good Harry thought he might start drooling any second. Judging by the way Louis kept glancing his way with a smirk, Harry wasn’t being subtle about it either. 

Harry always got a bit emotional when he attended same sex weddings. He’d grown up thinking he would never be able to. He could only imagine that this meant even more to Louis, who got misty eyed when Liam read his vows. Harry’s heart nearly doubled in size when he watched Louis try to discreetly wipe at his eyes. He was such a softy. Harry always knew he was tender hearted, but he didn’t realize just how much until Louis was alive again, when he could cry and breathe and touch. 

The two of them were beginning to talk about marriage more and more recently. It didn’t really matter one way or another to Harry. He knew that he and Louis were a forever thing either way, but it was important to Louis. Harry thought that his past probably influenced that. 

He stopped daydreaming about Louis and tuned back in just as the officiant was pronouncing Zayn and Liam husband and husband.

“You may now kiss your husband,” she said with a smile, and the crowd cheered as a smiling Liam took Zayn’s face in his hands and kissed him. 

They walked back down the aisle hand in hand to more cheers, followed by the wedding party, and eventually everyone wandered over to the reception to mingle while the grooms and their families took pictures. Shawn joined Harry after disposing of his guitar somewhere, and they made their way to the bar.

“You and Louis thinking about having your own one of these any time soon?” He asked as he and Harry waited for their turn to order.

“We’ve talked about it,” Harry told him. “But nobody has officially proposed yet.”

“Well,” Shawn smiled. “My cousins have informed me that I have to notify them the second it’s official.”

“Tell them that they’ll obviously be invited to any future wedding we may have,” Harry said, even though he was already making a mental note to text Celine later. He still had her number, although they hadn’t spoken in a few months. “We owe them everything.”

Harry ordered a beer for Louis and a glass of wine for himself when they finally got to the bar, and went to sit down at a table to wait for him. It was starting to get chilly outside, so they picked a table next to one of the heated lamps Liam and Zayn had strategically placed around the garden.

While he waited, Harry overheard a lot of people wondering if they’d get a peek inside the castle, since the wedding and reception were both being held outside. A few acquaintances he’d made during his stays in Stonecreek the year prior came over and made small talk with him. Luckily, either Shawn or Hailee remained by his side until the DJ came over the speaker and began to announce the wedding party. 

Louis joined Harry immediately after his introduction, greeting him with a small peck.

“How were pictures?” Harry asked, passing him his beer.

Louis raised his bottle in cheers. “I don’t want to talk about it.” He gestured around the room. “How has all of this been?”

“Fine,” Harry shrugged. “Hailee and Shawn kept me company. Everyone wants to go inside the castle.”

“Ugh,” Louis made a face. “Why?”

“To see you, I imagine.” 

Louis hummed and sipped at his beer. “Well, I guess it’ll be open to the public soon anyway, once Liam and Niall get the bed and breakfast thing sorted.”

Harry’s reply was cut off by the appearance of Maren and Ryan, who Harry had met at Niall’s birthday party, at their table. 

“Hi Harry,” Maren greeted him with a smile. Harry stood up to give her a hug and shook Ryan’s hand in greeting. They sat down in the chairs next to them.

“This is my boyfriend, Louis,” Harry said, gesturing to him proudly. Louis smiled and shook both of their hands.

“Nice to meet you,” Maren said. “Are you the reason Harry moved back to America?”

“Depends on what you mean by that question,” Louis said cryptically. 

“Well, with that accent, I’d assume not,” Ryan said. “How did you two meet?”

Harry swallowed, glancing at Louis with mild panic. Why hadn’t they thought of this question being asked? They had no cover story planned.   


“We met here,” Louis said with a shrug. “At Stonecreek.”

Harry sputtered and Louis shot him a look that Harry couldn’t decipher.

“Oh, really?” Maren asked. “You must be relatively new in town then. Or we’ve met before and I’m the worst and don’t remember it.”

“I’ve always been here, actually,” Louis replied. “Until Harry came along anyway.” 

A crease formed in between Maren’s eyebrows as she stared at them in confusion. Harry’s heart thudded in his chest and he laughed nervously. Luckily, their conversation was cut short when Liam grabbed the mic and thanked everyone for coming before announcing that the dinner buffet was now open.

“Well, looks like it’s time to eat!” Harry announced, hastily grabbing Louis’ arm and hauling him up. “What the fuck was that?” he hissed when they were out of earshot.

“Calm down,” Louis snorted. “Maren is one of Niall’s best friends. She’ll ask him about it and won’t tell anyone anything after he tells her not to.”

Harry blinked at him. “Are you reading minds again or something?”

“Of course not,” Louis said, frowning a bit. Harry knew he missed having that particular skill. He was so fucking nosy. “But I know her through Niall’s mind.”

Harry blinked at him some more. “You just wanted to see what would happen if you told someone, didn’t you?”

Louis smirked. “Maybe.”

“Jesus Christ,” Harry muttered, but paused his scolding when they arrived at the buffet.

After dinner, Niall made it his personal mission to get everyone plastered and Harry forgot about worrying over Louis in favor of convincing him to join him on the dancefloor. It took way too long; he was perfectly content to sit at a table and watch Harry make a fool of himself. Harry finally persuaded him when a song with a filthy beat came on and he threatened to find another man to dance with. 

“You’re such a shit,” Louis told him as Harry placed Louis’ arms around his neck, but he ran his fingers gently through the hair at his nape. Harry shimmied in his arms and Louis rolled his eyes. 

After some coaxing, Louis begrudgingly moved his hips with Harry and allowed himself to have a good time. Harry couldn’t stop smiling at him, watching Louis laugh and let himself be carefree. 

“Our lease is up in a few months,” Louis said when the music slowed a few songs later. He wrapped one arm around Harry’s waist and grabbed one of his hands. “We should look into buying a house. Really start to settle down. Maybe have a wedding of our own in the next year or so.”

Harry considered teasing him for such a half-assed proposal, but he didn’t know if Louis even realized what he’d done. 

“Settle down in Chicago?” he asked instead. 

“Well, yeah. Or like around it,” Louis tilted his head in confusion. “Where else would we buy a house?”

“I guess I’ve always secretly wondered if you’d want to come back to England,” Harry shrugged. “If being back here would make you realize that you miss Stonecreek or something.”

Louis shook his head. “God, not at all. I mean, England is fine, but I can never live here at Stonecreek again.”

Harry didn’t personally feel the same way. He loved Stonecreek. It was where he’d met the love of his life and met some of his best friends. He loved the town and the beauty of the countryside, but he loved Louis more. 

“Okay,” he nodded. “No Stonecreek.”

“Thank you,” Louis leaned in to kiss him. “I promise I’ll make up for that shitty proposal later.”

Harry smiled into the kiss. “Damn right you will.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you so much for reading!!!! especially if you've been here since i first started posting as a wip bc i know i took for fucking ever. 
> 
> as always, comments and kudos are so loved and appreciated. 
> 
> i'm on tumblr @littlelouishiccups. come say hi!


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